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.