Mind-set matters: exercise and the placebo effect
Alia Crum and Ellen Langer studied 84 women who cleaned rooms in seven hotels. Hotels, not individuals, were assigned: in some, housekeepers were told their work was good exercise and met recommendations for an active lifestyle. Four weeks later, compared with the others, the informed group saw themselves as getting more exercise and showed reductions in weight, blood pressure, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index. The study is small and short, the assignment was by hotel, and the change may reflect greater effort rather than belief alone. No replication has been located in either direction.
Alia Crum and Ellen Langer studied 84 women who cleaned rooms in seven hotels. Hotels, not individuals, were assigned: in some, housekeepers were told their work was good exercise and met recommendations for an active lifestyle. Four weeks later, compared with the others, the informed group saw themselves as getting more exercise and showed reductions in weight, blood pressure, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index. The study is small and short, the assignment was by hotel, and the change may reflect greater effort rather than belief alone. No replication has been located in either direction.
Written from the verified research record for article 63, 2026-10-08.
What our sources record
Reproduced as it was written when this source was checked, figures and all.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01867.x. 84 female room attendants in seven hotels, assigned by hotel; four weeks. No replication located in either direction.