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. 2017 Dec;49(10):1156-1172.
doi: 10.1177/0013916517691324. Epub 2017 Feb 10.

Surveillance or Self-Surveillance? Behavioral Cues Can Increase the Rate of Drivers' Pro-Environmental Behavior at a Long Wait Stop

Rose Meleady  1 , Dominic Abrams  2 , Julie Van de Vyver  3 , Tim Hopthrow  2 , Lynsey Mahmood  4 , Abigail Player  2 , Ruth Lamont  5 , Ana C Leite  6
Affiliations

Surveillance or Self-Surveillance? Behavioral Cues Can Increase the Rate of Drivers' Pro-Environmental Behavior at a Long Wait Stop

Rose Meleady et al. Environ Behav. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

By leaving their engines idling for long periods, drivers contribute unnecessarily to air pollution, waste fuel, and produce noise and fumes that harm the environment. Railway level crossings are sites where many cars idle, many times a day. In this research, testing two psychological theories of influence, we examine the potential to encourage drivers to switch off their ignition while waiting at rail crossings. Two field studies presented different signs at a busy rail crossing site with a 2-min average wait. Inducing public self-focus (via a "Watching Eyes" stimulus) was not effective, even when accompanied by a written behavioral instruction. Instead, cueing a private-self focus ("think of yourself") was more effective, doubling the level of behavioral compliance. These findings confirm the need to engage the self when trying to instigate self-regulatory action, but that cues evoking self-surveillance may sometimes be more effective than cues that imply external surveillance.

Keywords: behavior change; driver behavior; private self-focus; pro-environmental behavior; psychology; self-regulation; surveillance; visual cues; watching eyes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The level crossing and surrounding area.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Example of queuing traffic when barriers are down.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Permanent sign at the level-crossing site, placed by the local council.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
“Watching Eyes” manipulation (Experiment 1).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
“Instructive Watching Eyes” and “Private Self Focus” manipulations (Experiment 2).
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Results across Experiments 1 and 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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