Abstract
Introduction: This study is aimed at gaining more insight into the effects of camera-surveillance on behavior. It investigates the effects of three different ways of “framing” camera presence on cheating behavior and pro-social behavior. First, we explore the effect of presenting the camera as the medium through which an intimidating authority watches the participant. Second, we test the effect of presenting the camera as being a neutral, non-intimidating viewer. Third, we investigate the effect of watching oneself via a camera. In contrast to most studies on camera surveillance, we will conduct our experiments in an indoor setting. We also explore possible interaction effects of personality traits; we measured Locus of Control, Need for Approval, Self-Monitoring and Social Value Orientation.Methods: In this experiment participated 86 students, randomly distributed over four conditions: three different ways of framing the camera presence, plus a control condition. Our main dependent variables were various kinds of cheating and pro-social behavior. We established the participant's relevant personality traits using a classification tree.Results: For cheating behavior, findings showed that in the “authorative” way of framing camera presence and in the situation in which participants viewed themselves, participants cheated significantly less compared to a situation without camera-surveillance. We did not find significant effects of camera surveillance on pro-social behavior. Looking at personality traits, we found an indication that people with an internal locus of control are more inclined to cheat when there is no camera present compared to people with an external locus of control. However, the effects of our manipulations were stronger.Conclusion: Our findings support the idea that the framing of a camera's presence does indeed influence cheating behavior, adding to the preventive effects of camera-surveillance. Additionally, this study provides some valuable insights into the influence of camera presence on behavior in general.
Highlights
This study is aimed at gaining more insight into the effects of camera-surveillance on behavior
Cheating Behavior: Overview In total, 10 of the 86 participants cheated, and 12 guessed answers after the time they were allowed to work on the puzzles was up
The data we used in our analyses were “cheating overall,” and “guessing.” Table 1 below only shows the values used in our analyses
Summary
This study is aimed at gaining more insight into the effects of camera-surveillance on behavior. The meta-analyses of Welsh and Farrington (2002, 2009) show divergent results (i.e., in some places or situations cameras do seem to work, in other situations they do not), calling into question whether camera surveillance should be considered a dependable method of crime prevention. These meta-analyses show that the (environmental) context is an important factor to reckon with; for example, camera surveillance seems more effective in car parks compared to other settings (such as town centers and public housing communities). Studying how and why camera surveillance works and whether the presentation of, and notifications about, the camera surveillance influences its effectiveness might give more insight in the reasons why these meta-analyses show such a wide range of results
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