1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbon. Here in the early part of 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: the twenty first century, psychologist Dr David A. Ellis performed 4 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: possibly the shortest experiment in the history of the social sciences. 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: He gathered sixty randomly selected test subjects, invited them into 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: his office one by one, and asked them this fateful question, 7 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: what day is today? That's it? Thank you, please sign 8 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: the release form on the way out. Done so, what 9 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: could Ellis possibly learn from asking people the day of 10 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: the week? A heck of a lot, as it turns out. 11 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: Using this simple experiment and others, Ellis was trying to 12 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 1: decode the complex psychology of time, and even to help 13 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: answer the age old question wait is it Wednesday or Thursday? 14 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: Because although each week day is twenty four hours long, 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 1: they're far from equal from a psychological standpoint. We spoke 16 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: with Elis via phone back in from the University of 17 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: Lincoln in the UK. He said, when you ask people 18 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: about Monday and Friday, they have a lot to tell you, 19 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: and those words evoke very strong emotions, whereas when you 20 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 1: ask them about the middling days, people tend to draw 21 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: a blank. Asked to free associate about Monday, Ellis's test 22 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: subjects wrote strongly negative words like tired, boring, early, and rubbish, 23 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: it being the UK after all, and when asked to 24 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: describe Friday, they came up with wildly positive words like fun, friends, party, 25 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: and someone unexpectedly bacon. When asked about the rest of 26 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: the week, people struggled to come up with anything at all. Tuesday, 27 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: for some is like a Monday hangover, long and busy 28 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: topped the list, but the description most people came up 29 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: with for Wednesday was simply middle. There are even a 30 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: lot more songs about Mondays and Fridays than other days 31 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: of the week. Consider New Orders, Blue Monday, The Mamas 32 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: and the Papa's Monday, Monday, The Bengals, Manic Monday, The 33 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: Cures Friday, I'm in Love, Katie Perry's Last Friday Night, 34 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: Rascal Flats Friday. Though, of course, let's not discount the 35 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: midweek brilliance of the Rolling Stones, Ruby Tuesday. But Ellis 36 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: pointed out that there can be serious unintended consequences to 37 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: these strong and weak psychological associations with certain days of 38 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: the week. He explained suicide rates are higher at the 39 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: start of the week, for example, and stocks perform better 40 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: on Friday. Missed medical appointments also peak at the start 41 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: of the week in the United States. These can be 42 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: a costly inconvenience for doctors and patients, but they can 43 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: be costly to the whole community for state run health 44 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,679 Speaker 1: systems like in the UK. The better we understand the 45 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: psychological biases toward different days of the week, Ellis says, 46 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,040 Speaker 1: the better weekend tailor interventions and design subtle nudges, it 47 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: might have significant societal payoff. In a previous study, for example, 48 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: Ellis found that working people are much more likely to 49 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: miss Monday doctor's appointments than retirees. The health system could 50 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: save loads of money by booking retirees at the beginning 51 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: of the week and US working stiffs on Fridays, Which 52 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: brings us back to the original question what days it today? 53 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: When Alice asked that question, he timed each subject's response 54 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: on Mondays and Fridays. He discovered people gave the correct 55 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: answer twice as fast as people asked on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, 56 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: and Thursdays. Some midweek folks couldn't think of the day 57 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: at all. Given the strong if opposing psychological associations with 58 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: Monday and Friday. It's not surprising that people are more 59 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: aware of those days. It seems the rest of the 60 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: work week can get lost in the shuffle. Today's episode 61 00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: was written by Dave Ruse and produced by Tyler Klang. 62 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: Or More on this and lots of other timely topics, 63 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of 64 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio or more podcasts. My heart Radio visit the 65 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 66 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.