Cues of being watched enhance cooperation in a real-world setting
Bateson, Nettle and Roberts tested whether a cue of being watched changes payment behaviour in a real setting. In a university coffee room, users paid for tea, coffee and milk through an honesty box. A notice above the box alternated each week between a pair of eyes and a picture of flowers, using a different image each week. People paid markedly more for the milk they consumed in the weeks with the eyes. The authors read this as evidence that cues of being watched can enhance cooperation outside the laboratory. The study is a single site over ten weeks, so it shows that the cue worked in that room and leaves open how widely the effect travels.
Bateson, Nettle and Roberts tested whether a cue of being watched changes payment behaviour in a real setting. In a university coffee room, users paid for tea, coffee and milk through an honesty box. A notice above the box alternated each week between a pair of eyes and a picture of flowers, using a different image each week. People paid markedly more for the milk they consumed in the weeks with the eyes. The authors read this as evidence that cues of being watched can enhance cooperation outside the laboratory. The study is a single site over ten weeks, so it shows that the cue worked in that room and leaves open how widely the effect travels.
Written from the paper's text, Newcastle University copy.
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Bateson, M., Nettle, D., & Roberts, G. (2006). Cues of being watched enhance cooperation in a real-world setting. Biology Letters, 2(3), 412-414. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0509