Be good: I have my eyes on you
Image: Eva Serrabassa
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The Wisdom of Psychopaths
In this engrossing journey into the lives of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a...
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Many years ago, when I was still in high school, I was extremely fond of chewing gum, especially during class hours. However, sooner or later the chewing gum would either lose its taste or I would become bored with it. After a while, I would start looking around, wondering how I could get rid of the gum nice and quietly. As you might have guessed by now, yes, I was that kid sticking his used gum underneath the desk. And as I grew older, I started noticing that I wasn’t the only one deviating from the social norms that society has laid out for us. How often is it that we conveniently forget to return dirty food trays in the cafeteria? Or let our dogs poop in the park and head off before anyone has a chance to notice?
I think Thomas Jefferson was on a similar train of thought when he wrote, “Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.” I always found this to be a particularly interesting quote, as it reminds us of the fact that we tend to be on our best behavior when we know that we are being observed. While this may seem obvious, new research points to something far less obvious: it doesn’t take a fellow human being to make us feel “as if the world were watching,” not even another living organism. All it takes is an image of a pair of human eyes.
A group of scientists at Newcastle University, headed by Melissa Bateson and Daniel Nettle of the Center for Behavior and Evolution, conducted a field experiment demonstrating that merely hanging up posters of staring human eyes is enough to significantly change people’s behavior. Over the course of 32 days, the scientists spent many hours recording customer’s “littering behavior” in their university’s main cafeteria, counting the number of people that cleaned up after themselves after they had finished their meals. In their study, the researchers determined the effect of the eyes on individual behavior by controlling for several conditions (e.g. posters with a corresponding verbal text, without any text, male versus female faces, posters of something unrelated like flowers, etc). The posters were hung at eye-level and every day the location of each poster was randomly determined. The researchers found that during periods when the posters of eyes, instead of flowers, overlooked the diners, twice as many people cleaned up after themselves
In fact, this research builds on a long tradition of psychologists being interested in explaining and stimulating human cooperation in matters of the collective. In technical terms, we often speak of a “social dilemma,” that is, a situation where personal interests are at odds with that of the collective. (For example, it would be easier for me to throw my trash on the ground, but if everyone thought that way, we would all be stuck with a huge pile of waste.) Robyn Dawes and colleagues showed in the 70’s that the presence of other people in the room tends to have a positive effect on people’s decision-making when faced with a social dilemma. Yet, it wasn’t until a few years ago that Terence Burnham and Brian Hare published an article in Human Nature that showed people make more cooperative choices in economic computer games when they are “watched” on the screen by a robot with human-like eyes. Somewhat baffled, a number of researchers subsequently conducted a set of experiments that confirmed these initial findings.
Ernest-Jones, Bateson and Nettle sought to better understand the effect of staring-eyes on behavior. Part of the added value of the scientist’s current research is that the results were generated outside of the laboratory. This is important because it allowed the researchers to document naturally occurring behavior, providing greater confidence that the results obtained are not merely an artefact of experimentation. Equally important, it also served to illustrate that the effect of staring-eyes carries across a range of social behaviors.
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22 Comments
Add CommentWhat a cogent argument for Big Brother. We should have eyes everywhere, really. Even in public restrooms. Would cut down on so much toilet paper theft.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisControlling social behavior is a key endeavor of a corporate-controlled society. The 'eyes on the wall' is a perfect way to get people to police themselves, fooling them in to 'behaving' rather than rebelling. It brings resentment from those who see it for what it is and the rest become cannon fodder.
Oh, my thoughts are entirely unscientific, by the way. I just pay attention to history. So should you.
PS: A 'better person?' Really? Seriously? Wow.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm not sure about the "corporate" part, Simon, but a couple of years ago I speculated that dictatorships post pictures of their leaders everywhere not just out of vanity but because it might encourage compliance with their laws: http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/mirrors-and-images.htm
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRoger
I have read that people are more responsive to changes in their environment than the status quo. So I wonder what the effect would be if the eye posters were left up for a long time. Would people revert back to their original behavior or would there still be some residual improvement?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisForget putting eye posters in stores or schools. Where we really need them is in our politicians offices. Maybe we should start a petition here in California to make them a required decoration.
My wife has the illusion that all neighbours are looking at her because she is schizophrenic, but she is not better at all.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI thought this was a rather interesting article. I never know human gaze detection was that powerful. It seems to me though that Simon has some potentially dubious behaviors to hide. If applied with care I think a little big brother wouldn't hurt anyone. Think of that poor shmuck who just got robbed at the bus stop or that innocent girl who got sexually assaulted in a quiet area. If society by large has democratically agreed upon the fact that upholding certain norms and disapproving of certain other behaviors (stealing, rape, littering)is advantageous in the long haul then why complain about measures that can assist in upholding these norms. That is, unless you're part of that minority who feels they need to rebel against everything in society.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI like TTLG's idea tho, let's start a petition and make sure those politicians know we're watching their every move ;)
This behavior may be related to paranoia mechanisms in the brain. This tactic may lead to a generation of paranoid students, just as "big brother" tactics led to secretive societies. There may be a place for watcher strategies, but schools are supposed to instill freedom of thought, creativity and personal responsibility. These repressive strategies in schools could instill the opposite: only behave if you are being watched.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thislike strobe lights that induce epileptic fits. I suspect this may backfire. It seems
Ha..pretty cool research. It kind of follows this trend in economics that tries to 'nudge' people in the 'right' direction. I never really thought about why I don't clean up my trays after lunch in the food court. I pay for the meal so I don't really feel I need to clean it up, should be part of the service ;) I'm not sure if a pair of eyes is going to do it for me though...although apparently, the research suggests it will influence my behavior. I say; bring it on!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn a way Sander's research on the built-in sensitivity of neuronal architecture to gaze detection and consequently altering the behaviour, explains the origins of an ever watchful Godhead and evolution of Religion as a tool to control group dynamics in a society.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVery fascinating article. I might try this out on my students.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPictures of glaring eyes would definitely make me feel more unsafe in unsafe areas.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBehave only if you are being watched? For religious people God is always watching us. I think in open public places it should be good if this always happens, against robberies and assaults. In our time it is like no one knows that bad behaviors are also a "poison" for oneself, because it gives a sort of negative "reward" which instinctively is pushing to do it again and more, until first or later one will pay hard for it, because bad behavor is also a great risk for who is doing it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI kind of think y'all are missing the point (i.e. HUMOR) of angry eyes in schools.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have to agree with TTLG in re the "status quo" quotient. I would love to see this revisited with the various posters left in place over time.
I totally agree with eekanif, I think some people here are missing out on the implied humor haha. I am also curious about the long-term effect of glaring eyes, especially whether or not the effect is gonna wear off.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese symbolic watchers will at least remind you that if you thought someone wasn't watching you, you might want to rethink that.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisReminds me of the Big Brother posters in the book & movie "1984".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBack in the day there was an old adage: 'Character is what you do when no one is watching.' So much for character development...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis explains why Brits are so refined; they usually have a massive portrait of some influential ancestor looming over them while sipping high tea.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI just read this article and it was quite fascinating. It probably would make a difference upon people but wouldn't you become paranoid, if you had eyes looking at you constantly? If majority of the students, "DID" in fact put the trays back, I suppose everyone else would. When you see everyone doing something, you tend to do it yourself as well.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisInteresting article, however when we allow the brain and mind to lead us, what follows is confusion
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf the intent of pictures of eyes is to lessen crime like theft and vandalism, Simon, it sounds like a good conspiracy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd who the hell needs to have a rebellion in the United States? Travel much? Your writing sounds like you have some serious 1st world problems. Beware The Man - sabotaging your high speed Internet and watering down your Frappuccino!
http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/20/ok-glass-rip-privacy-the-democratization-of-surveillance/
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this^on the future of surveillance of and by citizens and governments.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-cameras-for-police-officers.html?_r=0
^on police in AZ wearing cameras... and confrontations with citizens going down as well as complaints against the department from citzens.