2016/10/01 by Antonia F. de C. Hamilton, Frida Lind · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment #Cultural Differences and Values #Personality Traits and Psychology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s40167-016-0044-5
openalex publication_date 2016/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
An audience effect arises when a person's behaviour changes because they believe someone else is watching them. Though these effects have been known about for over 110 years, the cognitive mechanisms of the audience effect and how it might vary across different populations and cultures remains unclear. In this review, we examine the hypothesis that the audience effect draws on implicit mentalising abilities. Behavioural and neuroimaging data from a number of tasks are consistent with this hypothesis. We further review data suggest that how people respond to audiences may vary over development, personality factors, cultural background and clinical diagnosis including autism and anxiety disorder. Overall, understanding and exploring the audience effect may contribute to our models of social interaction, including reputation management and mentalising.