‘The placebo effect is actually the most scientifically proven thing of all time.’
A 2007 Harvard psychology study on housekeepers has been brought back to people’s attention after being mentioned in a viral podcast clip on TikTok.
A viral video from The 7-Minute Mindset podcast (@thefiobros) on April 21 discussed a widely cited study. “I will never underestimate the power of the human mind again,” said the podcaster.
What Did the Podcaster Say About the Harvard Study?
“In 2007, a Harvard psychologist took hotel housekeepers and split them up into two groups,” says the podcaster. “The first group was told that the activities they did every single day—vacuuming, making the bed—all exceeded the Surgeon General’s recommendation for exercise.”
“The second group was told absolutely nothing,” he adds. “The crazy part was four weeks later, the first group had lost weight, lowered their blood pressure, and had a lower body fat percentage, all just by believing they were doing exercise.”
The podcast is referring to a widely discussed 2007 study conducted by Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer and researcher Alia Crum. The study, “Mind-Set Matters: Exercise and the Placebo Effect,” explored whether people’s beliefs about exercise could physically affect their health outcomes.
Was This Podcaster’s Description Accurate?
The researchers recruited 84 female hotel housekeepers, a group chosen because their jobs already involve significant physical activity. Many of the women vacuumed, scrubbed bathrooms, changed linens, pushed heavy carts, and walked for hours every day. Despite this, about two-thirds of them reported not considering themselves active exercisers.
The researchers divided the housekeepers into two groups. One group was informed that the work they performed daily actually met or exceeded the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommendations for an active lifestyle. They were shown exactly how many calories common housekeeping tasks burned and were told their jobs counted as beneficial exercise. The second group received no such information and continued their routines as normal.
Importantly, neither group changed their workload, diet, or exercise habits during the four-week experiment. However, when researchers checked back after a month, the informed group showed measurable physical improvements. According to the study, they experienced decreases in weight, body fat percentage, waist-to-hip ratio, and blood pressure. The control group showed virtually no significant changes.
Why Is This Study So Famous?
The findings became famous because they suggested that mindset alone can influence physical health. Researchers theorized that when the informed housekeepers began viewing their daily labor as legitimate exercise, their expectations about health and fitness changed their bodies’ physiological responses.
The study is often cited as an example of the placebo effect extending beyond medicine and into everyday life. In other words, believing they were exercising may have helped the women experience some of the same benefits associated with intentional workouts.
AllHipHop reached out to @thefiobros via TikTok direct message and comment. We will update this if they respond.
@thefiobros Change your story, change your life.
♬ original sound – Fio Bros
Related
