The effect of "eyes" as social cues on pro-social behavior

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25380848
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Social psychology
• Research Institution: The Open University of Japan
• Principal Investigator: Mori Tsutako 放送大学, 教養学部, 教授 (30340912)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): IKEDA Masami 十文字学園女子大学, 人間生活学部, 教授 (00334566) ; TAKAHIRA Mieko 中部大学, 人文学部, 教授 (80370097)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 社会心理学 / 社会的認知 / 社会的影響 / 向社会的行動 / 利他的行動 / 進化心理学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study explored the "watching eyes effect," an effect of eyes on pro-social behavior, by conducting nine experiments (including one experiment applying an eye tracking device) and the meta-analysis of previous works on this issue. In a series of studies, the presence of "eyes", despite the fact that fake eyes (such as illustrations or pictures of eyes) were used as the experimental stimulus, had specific effects on pro-social behavior. However, the effect size were not so large at a constant basis, but changeable depend a great deal on various conditions, such as the features of eye stimuli, the types of pro-social behavior, and so on.

Free Research Field

社会心理学