Open-mindedness and the ability to debate are increasingly rare in today’s society. Not all individuals can express their opinion and speak openly about their views and desires, just as people often prefer to refrain from expressing a political opinion. It is due to the current sociopolitical atmosphere and the individual’s character. Moreover, depression and low spirits are increasingly common problems for today’s students. However, it is difficult to argue with the fact that often a tiny amount of dopamine can affect a person’s mood, desire to communicate, and the nature of the change of thoughts. Caffeine is one of the popular ways of communicative doping that can affect the body and improve mood, allowing deeper penetration into the human subconscious (Leatherdale, 2019). It reduces anxiety and stress and releases dopamine, in connection with which the psychological features of personality can manifest themselves in different ways. The readiness for action and activity, the tendency to risky behavior, the level of emotionality increases, and sometimes irritability can be increased due to caffeine.
This study hypothesizes that several cups of coffee can affect the nature of a conversation, and participants may respond differently to the same questions as they consume caffeine. Coffee consumption is an independent variable, while the degree of openness of responses and the mood of participants are dependent variables. Moreover, it is assumed that:
- Respondents can change their opinion to the diametrically opposite;
- Respondents may respond more frankly or extensively;
- As the dose increases, respondents will be more willing to reveal their true motivation for participating in this experiment.
- Communicative doping activates a repressed personality and may manifest itself in using new adjectives and epithets.
- The effect of communicative doping may stimulate the respondent to reveal inner experiences;
It is crucial to understand whether the repetition of questions causes negative emotions in the respondents and do they notice that the question is worded differently, but its essence remains the same. Participants in the experimental group will have to answer the questions while drinking several coffee cups at 30-minute intervals. Over time, questions that are similar in meaning but different in wording will be asked to trace the dynamics of their opinions during the dopamine exposure process (Leatherdale, 2019). The participants in the experimental and control groups will be 18-25 years old, and equal numbers of males and females will be included. Place plays an essential role in this experiment and is crucial to recreating a cafe’s or home’s atmosphere. Official places are unsuitable for this event, as the respondents may feel uncomfortable and cannot relax completely. The control group is placed in the same conditions as the experimental group, except that the subjects are not subjected to experimental influence (Leatherdale, 2019). After 60 minutes of conversation, the behavior of the respondents will be evaluated.
In this way, the study will help to determine whether the level of frankness and straightforwardness of the participants in the discussion changes. In particular, attention will be paid to whether they are no longer shy in their expressions, whether there is an expression in the discussion, and whether respondents, who were previously closed in their thoughts, have begun to speak frankly. The central question is whether caffeine influences the increase of emotionality and whether gender affects the character of changes. A control group of participants will answer the same questions without caffeine, allowing to compare the results and confirm or refute the hypothesis.
Reference
Leatherdale, S. T. (2019). Natural experiment methodology for research: a review of how different methods can support real-world research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 22(1), 19-35. Web.