Saving The Best Chocolate For Last

Ed O'Brien, a researcher in social psychology at the University of Michigan, has written the paper. His idea indicates that our choices are remarkably relying on the moment associated with preference. And one especially critical instant would be the end of the experience.

According to O'Brien's hypothesis, we are enticed by endings or last chances. He said: "I think in everyday life we do have this expectation that we save the best for last."

"When people are given awareness that something is about to end, they're kind of motivated to make the most of that experience," he added.

Is this even applicable to something such as taking pleasure in the last piece of chocolate? As a means to verify the idea, O'Brien along with his team got into contact with 52 students on the University of Michigan campus and requested them to be involved in a taste test.

These students tried out a variety of Hershey's Kisses from caramel to almond to dark chocolate. After which, they were asked to rate their most favorite.

"So we had a big bag of candy that was covered from the outside and you couldn't see what was in it or how many [chocolates were there]," he states.

For some students, they weren’t given any hint that the fifth chocolate was actually the last one they would taste. In this case, the participants claimed that the last piece of chocolate they were able to taste was their favorite about 22% of the time.

However, another group of student had been informed that the fifth piece was going to be their "last." And O'Brien suggests that this particular awareness about how the entire experience was ending somewhat compelled them to savor the chocolate more.

He said: "The majority of people [64 percent] chose it as their favorite even though we'd randomly distributed the flavors," .

A series of research has indicated that the last things are always more powerful. Why, you may ask. They tend to be the freshest in our thoughts, that's why. And O'Brien believes that the last-is-best disposition might stretch out to everything about romance and relationships.

Joanna Maligaya
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