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. 2006 Sep 22;2(3):412-4.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0509.

Cues of being watched enhance cooperation in a real-world setting

Melissa Bateson  1 , Daniel Nettle, Gilbert Roberts
Affiliations

Cues of being watched enhance cooperation in a real-world setting

Melissa Bateson et al. Biol Lett. .

Abstract

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.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pounds paid per litre of milk consumed as a function of week and image type.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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