2015/05/21 by Stefan Pfattheicher, Johannes Keller
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Behavioral Health and Interventions #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
paper · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2122
openalex publication_date 2015/05/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Abstract In recent years, a growing number of researchers have examined the watching eyes phenomenon (i.e . , increased prosocial and decreased antisocial behavior when subtle watching eyes are present in the environment). Somewhat surprisingly, the questions of how and under what conditions subtle cues of being watched operate have been unanswered so far. The present contribution addresses this research gap. In two studies, we document that (a) subtle cues of being watched induce a sense of being seen and (b) chronic public self‐awareness moderates the watching eyes phenomenon in that specifically individuals with strong chronic public self‐awareness show more prosocial behavior under conditions of watching eyes. The applicability of subtle cues of being watched in research on social presence is discussed.