Analog
Lifer
The feeling of being watched makes people act more honestly, even if the eyes are not real, a study suggests.
A Newcastle University team monitored how much money people put in a canteen "honesty box" when buying a drink.
They found people put nearly three times as much in when a poster of a pair of eyes was put above the box than when the poster showed flowers.
The brain responds to images of eyes and faces and the poster may have given the feeling of being watched, they say.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the team says the findings could aid anti-social behaviour initiatives.
The experiment made use of a long-running honesty box scheme based in a canteen at Newcastle University. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5120662.stm
A Newcastle University team monitored how much money people put in a canteen "honesty box" when buying a drink.
They found people put nearly three times as much in when a poster of a pair of eyes was put above the box than when the poster showed flowers.
The brain responds to images of eyes and faces and the poster may have given the feeling of being watched, they say.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the team says the findings could aid anti-social behaviour initiatives.
The experiment made use of a long-running honesty box scheme based in a canteen at Newcastle University. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5120662.stm