Heartwarming : how our inner thermostat made us human
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"A compelling investigation into the quest to maintain core body temperature-and how it drives genetic and social evolution, civilization, health, and technology. A cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa is calming and comforting-but why? Recent research suggests that temperature, even that derived from holding a hot beverage, can influence our emotions and behaviors. In Heartwarming, social psychologist Hans IJzerman explores temperature and its role in our daily lives through the long lens of evolution. Besides breathing, regulating body temperature is one of the most important tasks for any animal. Like huddling penguins, we humans have long relied each other to maintain our temperatures. Over millennia, this instinct for thermoregulation has driven our social lives. Understanding how temperature affects human sociality leads to fascinating new questions in our changing world: How will climate change impact society? Can thermoregulation keep relationships closer, even across distance? IJzerman offers new insights for therapists, doctors, sufferers of illnesses both mental and physical, and all of us who want to better understand our bodies and our connections. Heartwarming takes readers on a captivating journey through the world, seen from the perspective of coldness and warmth"--