You are waiting for a bus, but someone has left a newspaper and empty plastic bottles on the bench in the bus shelter. Posted above the bench is a sign showing a person putting litter in the bin. Do you comply with that request and dispose of the items?
About one in three of you will, according to a paper just published by Damien Francey and Ralph Bergmuller, two Swiss “econ-ethologists” at the University of Neuchatel who study human behaviour. At least, one in three Swiss citizens will decide for yourself if your own community is likely to mimic the good burgers of Geneva, where the experiments were conducted.
But here’s the thing: the public-spirited one in three will, on average, expend more time and effort in clearing the bench if the no-litter sign has an image of eyes on it, than if it has an image of flowers. In other words, the image of eyes seems sufficient to convey a sense that the people are being watched, making them more conscientious about their duties.
Examples of engineering social behaviour through seemingly trivial interventions are well known – perhaps the most famous being how a black fly etched into the urinals at Schiphol Airport in Holland had the effect of, shall we say, improving the accuracy of men’s aim by 80%.
The eyes have it
About one in three of you will, according to a paper just published by Damien Francey and Ralph Bergmuller, two Swiss “econ-ethologists” at the University of Neuchatel who study human behaviour. At least, one in three Swiss citizens will decide for yourself if your own community is likely to mimic the good burgers of Geneva, where the experiments were conducted.
But here’s the thing: the public-spirited one in three will, on average, expend more time and effort in clearing the bench if the no-litter sign has an image of eyes on it, than if it has an image of flowers. In other words, the image of eyes seems sufficient to convey a sense that the people are being watched, making them more conscientious about their duties.
Examples of engineering social behaviour through seemingly trivial interventions are well known – perhaps the most famous being how a black fly etched into the urinals at Schiphol Airport in Holland had the effect of, shall we say, improving the accuracy of men’s aim by 80%.
The eyes have it
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