This Chewing Gum Social Experiment Will Surprise You

Most of us were scolded in school if we ever chewed gum in class. We were told it’s rude and distracting, which was probably true. But according to this social experiment, it would seem that chewing gum makes you more likable. Probably because chewing gum makes you look like a rebel in the stiff world we live in.

In 2013, chewing gum company Beldent set up a social experiment in the form of an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Buenos Aires to get to the bottom of these notions. The exhibit consisted of pairs of identical twins, seated in front of a table with two buttons and a headset. Out of all the visitors of the “exhibit”, 481 participated in the experiment, where they were asked series of questions regarding the subjects and all they had to do was press the button corresponding to the person they think matches the description.

One twin was chewing gum while the other simply sat motionless. When asked questions about the twins, nearly 70% of visitors reacted more positively to the one chewing gum.

These are all impressions one MIGHT get from someone gnawing at a piece of chewing gum, but it really depends on your personal experience.