Do Images of ‘Watching Eyes’ Induce Behaviour That Is More Pro-Social or More Normative? A Field Experiment on Littering

Melissa Bateson,Jessica R Holmes,Luke Callow,Daniel Nettle,Maximilian L Redmond Roche,Johan J Bolhuis

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0082055

Abstract

Displaying images of eyes causes people to behave more pro-socially in a variety of contexts. However, it is unclear whether eyes work by making people universally more pro-social, or by making them more likely to conform to local norms. If the latter, images of eyes could sometimes make people less pro-social if pro-social behaviour is not the local norm. To separate these hypotheses we conducted a field experiment in which we explored whether manipulating a local descriptive norm altered the eyes effect. We recorded litter dropping decisions on a university campus in a 2 x 2 design, comparing situations with and without litter already on the ground (a manipulation of the local descriptive norm) and with and without large signs displaying images of watching eyes. We additionally recorded the number of potential human observers in the vicinity at the time of each littering decision. We observed a norm effect: the presence of litter on the ground increased littering, replicating previous findings. We also found that images of watching eyes reduced littering, although contrary to previous findings this was only when there were larger numbers of people around. With regard to our central aim, we found no evidence that litter on the ground interacted non-additively with images of eyes to induce increased littering behaviour. Our data therefore support the hypothesis that images of eyes induce more pro-social behaviour, independent of local norms. This finding has positive implications for the application of eye images in combating anti-social behaviour.

Highlights

There is growing evidence that engaging the psychology of surveillance using simple images of watching eyes induces people to behave more pro-socially
In the presence of images of eyes people are more likely to pay for their drinks via an honesty box [8], donate to a charity bucket [9] and recycle appropriately [10]. They are less likely to leave litter on cafeteria tables [11] or steal bicycles from a university campus [12]. These results raise the possibility that cheap interventions based on simple images of watching eyes could be used to tackle anti-social behaviour, and even crime, in a range of real-world situations
In a field experiment on littering behaviour in which we examined the effects of both the presence of signs featuring images of watching eyes and the presence of litter on the ground, we found: (1) that the addition of litter being already present on the ground induced greater littering behaviour; (2) that images of watching eyes reduced littering behaviour, albeit only when there were larger numbers of people in the vicinity; and crucially (3), that there was no evidence that litter on the ground interacted non-additively with images of watching eyes to induce enhanced littering behaviour

Summary

Introduction

There is growing evidence that engaging the psychology of surveillance using simple images of watching eyes induces people to behave more pro-socially. In the presence of images of eyes people are more likely to pay for their drinks via an honesty box [8], donate to a charity bucket [9] and recycle appropriately [10] They are less likely to leave litter on cafeteria tables [11] or steal bicycles from a university campus [12]. These results raise the possibility that cheap interventions based on simple images of watching eyes could be used to tackle anti-social behaviour, and even crime, in a range of real-world situations. We explore whether local behavioural norms influence the watching eyes effect

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Results

Conclusion