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Cues of Being Watched Enhance Cooperation in a Real-World Setting
Biology letters
Format: Journal Article
Publication Date: 2006/10/01/
Pages: 412 - 414
Sources ID: 48666
Collection: Altruism
Visibility: Public (group default)
Abstract: (Show)
We examined the effect of an image of a pair of eyes on contributions to an honesty box used to collect money for drinks in a university coffee room. People paid nearly three times as much for their drinks when eyes were displayed rather than a control image. This finding provides the first evidence from a naturalistic setting of the importance of cues of being watched, and hence reputational concerns, on human cooperative behaviour.