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Attention, shoppers: If the cart you selected has a handle greased with Vaseline, you may be an unwitting participant in an undercover experiment.

Ditto if you find an envelope stuffed with cash hanging out of a mailbox.

More than 600 people unknowingly took part in a series of "field experiments" in Groningen in the Netherlands designed to test the "broken window" theory, which posits that bad behavior begets bad behavior. That is: if someone sees, say, graffiti scrawled on a building, he or she will be tempted to do the same or commit some other illegal or mischievous act.

In fact, sociologists often cite the theory as a possible reason that petty crime in New York City dropped in the 1990s after the city scrubbed buildings, trains, buses, walls...clean of graffiti.

In an attempt to test the theory, psychologist Kees Keizer and his colleagues at the University of Groningen report online in Science that they conducted six experiments.

In their paper, "The Spreading of Disorder," they explain that they scattered shopping carts around a parking lot to provide a chaotic backdrop for one experiment.  They then smeared their handles with petroleum jelly to discourage customers from messing with the setup. (They say the deterrent worked "without exception".)

The researchers discovered that people in the shopping cart–laden lots were more likely to throw fliers placed on their windshields on the ground than those in a cart-free lot (58 percent compared to 30 percent).

In another test, they left envelopes visibly containing cash sticking out of public mailboxes and found that folks were more likely to make off with the money when the mailbox was covered in graffiti. In four other experiments, the researchers consistently found that graffiti, litter, fireworks (apparently a no-no in the Netherlands in the weeks leading up to the New Year), and other violations led people to litter, steal and do other naughty things.

(Photo from iStockphoto/Egor Mopanko[Egorych])

6 Comments

1. 1. snailsone 12:37 AM 11/21/08

   Graffiti is a symbol of an area unable to keep up with its upkeep usually and in most cases where you might actually see aerosol murals, it is about beautification...This article implies that graff is vandalism and causes people to act lawlessly...I think this is a warped study...
   

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2. 2. snailsone 12:40 AM 11/21/08

   Also, I'd like to add that spraypaint is just another kind of medium just like any other....

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3. 3. stringph 11:44 AM 11/21/08

   Leaving leaflets and flyers indiscriminately on cars and bicycles is littering in itself (and can be a huge nuisance). Since the drivers didn't consent to having bits of paper stuck on their vehicles, they cannot be made responsible for 'littering'. The study authors should look more carefully at the definition of what is 'antisocial' or 'naughty'.

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4. 4. redpoll in reply to snailsone 07:13 PM 11/21/08

   >>>Graffiti is a symbol of an area unable to keep up with its upkeep usually and in most cases where you might actually see aerosol murals, it is about beautification...This article implies that graff is vandalism and causes people to act lawlessly...I think this is a warped study...<<<
   
   Rubbish. The person who owns the wall or property gets to decide how it looks and what is painted on it. Period. Deciding that graffiti is art doesn't make it morally justifiable. Defacing someone's property is criminal behavior. The authors of the study aren't saying that graffiti causes people to act lawlessly. The authors state the tolerance of a criminal act like graffiti - which is easy to see and therefore easy to identify as a criminal act - makes people comfortable with committing other criminal acts in the same vicinity. If you want art, hang it on your own wall, or get permission from the owner first.

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5. 5. polkadotapus 08:47 PM 11/21/08

   Mhmm! Graffiti is an art of rebellion, whether it's beautiful or not, whether it's vulgar or funny. That's part of what gives it its appeal.... it gets its message across by publicly going against the rules of society - yay, individualism!
   
   Anyway, even though putting junk on people's windshields isn't exactly good behavior, it's generally moral/lawful to throw away or recycle that stuff instead of leaving it on the ground and... harming the Earth (and making things trashy!). So I think what they were just trying to show is that if people feel like others aren't doing what's right, then they devalue the use of morals/lawfulness and do something they know as bad.
   
   ...not surprising, actually. I mean if things are clean and it's obvious other people are doing their part, then more would probably follow suit; they'd be reminded of what's "right" and feel guiltier since they'd be the ones accountable for making a mess of something clean. ...etc.

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6. 6. shannell38 11:45 AM 11/23/08

   Graffiti is Art, Life in itself is Art. Everybody has their own unique view of acceptance, what is pleasing to one will be unaccepted to another. As for testing society upon good/bad behavior, well, when casting the bait fish will bite....surprising, No. We all share the same space in our bubbled world. Rebellious behavior upon ones hate/or love is self loathing .
   
   

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