萬(wàn) 學(xué)

Honesty may well be the best policy,but it often deserts us when no one is watching,psychologists report today. Experiments with an honesty box to collect payments for hot drinks reveal that people are better at paying up when under the watchful gaze of a pair of eyes. The surprise was that the eyes were not real,but photographed. The finding,which researchers believe sheds light on our evolutionary past,could be turned to practical use. The psychologists say images of beady eyes could boost ticket sales on public transport and improve surveillance systems to deter antisocial behaviour.

Researchers at Newcastle University set up the experiment in secret,so colleagues in their department would not change their behaviour. They attached a poster to a cupboard of mugs above an honesty box alongside a kettle,with tea,coffee and milk. Over 10 weeks,they alternated each week between images of eyes and pictures of flowers.

“We put the poster in a position that you couldnt fail to see it as you were getting a mug,”said Melissa Bateson,a behavioural biologist and leader of the study. At the end of each week Dr Bateson totted up the money in the honesty box and the amount of milk used—an indicator of the number drinks consumed. The money shot up every week the poster showed a pair of eyes.

Dr Bateson said that even though the eyes were not real they still seemed to make people behave more honestly. The effect may arise from behavioural traits that developed as early humans formed social groups that bolstered their chances of survival. For social groups to work individuals had to co-operate for the good of the group, rather than act selfishly.

“Theres an argument that if nobody is watching us it is in our interests to behave selfishly. But when we think were being watched we should behave better,so people see us as co-operative and behave the same way towards us,”Dr Bateson said.

People paid between 10p and 30p a litre of milk when pictures of flowers were put above the honesty box. When the eyes were used the payments went up to nearly 70p a litre. People paid more if the eyes were those of a male. “We thought wed get a subtle effect with eyes,but it was really quite striking how much difference they made. Even at a subconscious level,it seems people respond to eyes,and that might be because eyes and faces send a strong biological signal we have evolved to respond to.”

The scientists say companies and governments could tap into our evolved response to a persons gaze to improve honesty. “It raises interesting questions about how we might improve systems to reduce antisocial behaviour and things like making people pay up on public transport. Signs that say ‘CCTV cameras in operation should, perhaps,be accompanied by a pair of eyes instead of a picture of a camera. Weve not evolved to pay much attention to cameras,”said Dr Bateson.

實(shí)可能是我們做人處事的上策，但是它在無(wú)人監(jiān)督時(shí)通常會(huì)遺棄我們，心理學(xué)家今日?qǐng)?bào)告說(shuō)。用一只檢驗(yàn)人們是否誠(chéng)實(shí)的盒子收取熱飲費(fèi)的實(shí)驗(yàn)表明，當(dāng)被一雙眼睛警惕地注視時(shí)，人們會(huì)更自覺(jué)地付清全部費(fèi)用。令人驚訝的是，那雙眼睛并不是真的，而是一張圖像。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)——研究者認(rèn)為有助于說(shuō)明我們的進(jìn)化歷程——可能被轉(zhuǎn)化到實(shí)際應(yīng)用中。心理學(xué)家說(shuō)，像珠子般雪亮的眼睛圖像能夠提高公共交通的車(chē)票銷(xiāo)售額，改善監(jiān)視系統(tǒng)以阻止反社會(huì)行為。

紐卡斯?fàn)柎髮W(xué)的研究者們秘密地開(kāi)展了這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)，因此他們所在部門(mén)的同事不會(huì)因此改變自己的行為。他們將一份海報(bào)張貼在"誠(chéng)實(shí)盒"上方擺滿(mǎn)杯子的碗櫥上，盒子旁邊擺放著一只壺，還放有茶、咖啡和牛奶。在10多個(gè)周的實(shí)驗(yàn)期內(nèi)，他們?cè)诟髦荛g交替使用眼睛圖像和花卉圖片。

“我們把海報(bào)放在一個(gè)醒目的位置，當(dāng)你拿杯子時(shí)，你不可能看不到?！泵防へ愄厣f(shuō)，她是行為生物學(xué)家和此次研究的負(fù)責(zé)人。在每周結(jié)束時(shí)，貝特森博士都會(huì)合計(jì)誠(chéng)實(shí)盒中的錢(qián)數(shù)以及牛奶使用量——飲料消耗量的指示器。在海報(bào)為眼睛圖像的每個(gè)周，盒中的錢(qián)數(shù)都會(huì)暴漲。

貝特森博士說(shuō)，即使眼睛不是真的，它們似乎仍然能促使人們表現(xiàn)得更加誠(chéng)實(shí)。這種效果可能起因于人類(lèi)早期在結(jié)成社會(huì)群體維持生存的過(guò)程中形成的行為特性。社會(huì)群體要發(fā)揮作用，個(gè)人就必須為群體利益相互合作，而不能只顧自己。

“有一種觀(guān)點(diǎn)認(rèn)為，如果沒(méi)有人監(jiān)督，我們就會(huì)自私地按照個(gè)人的利益行事。可當(dāng)我們想到有人監(jiān)督時(shí)，我們就會(huì)表現(xiàn)得更好，以便人們看到我們樂(lè)于合作，并以同樣的方式對(duì)待我們?！必愄厣┦空f(shuō)。

當(dāng)花卉圖片被置于誠(chéng)實(shí)盒上方時(shí)，人們會(huì)為每升牛奶支付10英鎊到30英鎊；當(dāng)使用眼睛圖像時(shí)，人們的支付額提高到了每升將近70英鎊。如果眼睛是男性的，人們支付的就更多?！拔覀?cè)詾橛醚劬?huì)取得微妙的效果，但沒(méi)想到它們產(chǎn)生的效果竟然如此驚人。甚至在潛意識(shí)狀態(tài)下，人們似乎都會(huì)對(duì)眼睛作出反應(yīng)，這可能是因?yàn)檠劬捅砬閭鬟f出了一種強(qiáng)烈的生物信號(hào)，而我們已經(jīng)進(jìn)化到能對(duì)這種信號(hào)作出反應(yīng)了。”

科學(xué)家們說(shuō)，政府和企業(yè)可以運(yùn)用我們進(jìn)化出的對(duì)別人注視的反應(yīng)能力來(lái)提高人們的誠(chéng)信度?！八岢隽嗽S多有趣的問(wèn)題：我們?nèi)绾胃倪M(jìn)體制從而減少反社會(huì)行為，如何促使人們?cè)诠步煌ǚ矫孀泐~付費(fèi)。也許，那些寫(xiě)著‘閉路電視攝像機(jī)監(jiān)控中的警示語(yǔ)旁應(yīng)附上眼睛圖像而不是攝像機(jī)圖片。我們還沒(méi)有進(jìn)化到注意攝像機(jī)的地步?！必愄厣┦空f(shuō)。