29 June, 2006 04:58 GMT
'Our findings suggest that people are less likely to be selfish if they feel they are being watched, which has huge implications for real life.'
People behave more honestly if they feel they are being watched, research has found. The findings could help curb antisocial behavior, scientists at Newcastle University claim.
Their experiment involved monitoring an "honesty box" that relies on people paying for something without it being checked.
Honesty Box
In this case, staff visiting a university common room were expected to pay for their drinks, but it was up to them to put the coins in the box.
Researchers placed an A5 poster above the honesty box, listing prices of tea, coffee and milk.
The poster also featured an image banner across the top, and this alternated each week between pictures of flowers and images of eyes.
The researchers found people paid almost three times as much for their drinks on the weeks when the poster featured pictures of eyes.
Dr. Melissa Bateson, from the university, said: "Our findings suggest that people are less likely to be selfish if they feel they are being watched, which has huge implications for real life."
(c) 2006 Daily Mail; London (UK). All rights reserved.
(c) 2006 Daily News Central. All rights reserved.
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