In a separate study, to test the link
between physical temperature and emotional state, scientists had subjects hold cold and hot packs and recorded levels of perceived loneliness.
Since the solar input is being kept constant, the outgoing thermal radiation will have the same (constant) effective temperature, and the TAU = 1 level will continue to coincide with the
same physical temperature equal to the effective temperature.
The spectrally averaged effective emission temperature of the earth is about 252 K, which corresponds to
the physical temperature near the 6 km level.
These physical temperature measurements help calibrate the temperature record scientists obtain from oxygen isotopes.
To the extent that interpersonal feelings coincide with a sense of temperature, an individual with greater sensitivity to relationship dynamics may also have greater sensitivity to
physical temperatures.