Could you easily cut up a photograph of a loved one? Could you stab him or her through the eyes with the scissors? How much would I have to pay you to do it? £10?… £100?… £1000? Even though it is just an image, most people would refuse to do this. Why? It’s only a piece of paper. You might say that you don’t want to be seen to be disrespectful but what if the act was done alone and no one saw you doing it? It wouldn’t make a difference. Most people would be very uncomfortable.

This kind of thinking is at the root of voodoo magical thinking where the image becomes the object. It is based on the old idea of sympathetic magic where things that look alike are connected so that if you damage one, the other is similarly affected. In the past, people used dolls and effigies but today, photographs are a convenient way of representing the target with a true likeness. For example, in Africa where witchcraft beliefs are still very common, people use photographs of political opponents as a means of cursing the other party.

Photographs are a powerful reminder of the person you cherish, and the image can easily trigger mental representations. This is why you don’t want to damage the photograph as this elicits associated thoughts with the real person. But this can also be put to good use. A study published this week in our flagship psychology journal, “Psychological Science,” reports that people can tolerate much more pain when viewing a photograph of a loved one. Seeing photographs of loved ones primed mental representations of being loved and supported, which attenuated the experience of pain.

This finding fits with a lot of common sense as people have always carried around reminders and keepsakes of loved ones. However, it does suggest that when loved ones cannot be near, photographs should be made available. I wonder if this is something that the army are aware of.