Re: Promoting Honesty
- From: "Lance" <LanceGary@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 30 Jun 2006 02:35:32 -0700
This study seems to me to be related to some research carried out by
Carver and Scheier in support of their application of control theory to
psychology. They compared perfromance on various tasks when the subject
had a mirror placed in front of them (so they could see their own
reflection) and when they only faced a blank wall. Carver and Sceier
found that performance was greatly enhanced (was more meticulous, fewer
errors) in the mirror condition. They argued that the mirror condition
promoted "error sensitivity" by increasing the subject's
self-awareness. With greater error sensitivity came greater attention
to detail, etc.
It could be argued that the eyes in the poster serve the same function,
because we are (in the end) aware of ourselves through other people. So
the eyes in the poster would act like the mirror reflection and
increase error sensitivity, thus promoting honesty (not paying is a
kind of error).
Control theory is widely used in engineering (William Powers pioneered
its use in Psychology in his 1973 book "Behavior: The control of
perception"). A fairly recent use of the theory has been an attempt to
integrate disparate theories of depression using control theory by
Michale Hyland (Psychological Bulletin, 1987).
Lance
Lance wrote:
'Big Brother' Eyes Encourage Honesty, Study Shows
UK scientists have found a way of making people behave more honestly in
an experiment that could aid strategies for tackling anti-social
behaviour.
A team from Newcastle University found people put nearly three times as
much money into an 'honesty box' when they were being watched by a pair
of eyes on a poster, compared with a poster that featured an image of
flowers.
The researchers say the eye pictures were probably influential because
the brain naturally reacts to images of faces and eyes. It seems people
were subconsciously cooperating with the honesty box when it featured
pictures of eyes rather than flowers.
They also say the findings show how people behave differently when they
believe they are being watched because they are worried what others
will think of them. Being seen to co-operate is a good long-term
strategy for individuals because it is likely to mean others will
return the gesture when needed.
Details of the experiment, believed to be the first to test how cues of
being watched affect people's tendency for social co-operation in a
real-life setting, are published today, Wednesday June 28, in the Royal
Society journal Biology Letters.
An honesty box is a system of payment which relies on people's honesty
to pay a specified price for goods or services - there is no cashier to
check whether they are doing so.
For this experiment, lead researcher Dr Melissa Bateson and her
colleagues Drs Daniel Nettle and Gilbert Roberts, of the Evolution and
Behaviour Research Group in the School of Biology and Psychology at
Newcastle University, made use of a long-running 'honesty box'
arrangement.
This had been operating as a way of paying for hot drinks in a common
room used by around 48 staff for many years, so users had no reason to
suspect an experiment was taking place.
An A5 poster was placed above the honesty box, listing prices of tea,
coffee and milk. The poster also featured an image banner across the
top, and this alternated each week between different pictures of
flowers and images of eyes.
The eye pictures varied in the sex and head orientation but were all
chosen so that the eyes were looking directly at the observer.
Each week the research team recorded the total amount of money
collected and the volume of milk consumed as this was considered to be
the best index available of total drink consumption.
The team then calculated the ratio of money collected to the volume of
milk consumed in each week. On average, people paid 2.76 as much for
their drinks on the weeks when the poster featured pictures of eyes.
Lead author of the study, Melissa Bateson, a Royal Society research
fellow based at Newcastle University, said: "Our brains are programmed
to respond to eyes and faces whether we are consciously aware of it or
not.
"I was really surprised by how big the effect was as we were expecting
it to be quite subtle but the statistics show that the eyes had a
strong effect on our tea and coffee drinkers."
The findings could have applications in initiatives to curb anti-social
behaviour or in law enforcement - perhaps in areas such as payment for
public transport, road safety or the general issue of behaviour in
public places.
The group now hopes to expand the study to involve a larger sample
population.
Dr Bateson said: "Our findings suggest that people are less likely to
be selfish if they feel they are being watched, which has huge
implications for real life.
"For example, this could be applied to warnings about speed cameras. A
sign bearing an image of a camera would have to be actively processed
by our brains, as it is an artificial stimulus. Our research and
previous studies suggest drivers would react much more quickly and
positively to natural stimuli such as eyes and faces."
Source: University of Newcastle upon Tyne
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060628091247.htm
.
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- From: Lance
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