On the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks
In an experimental setting, we applied a dual strategy to better understand the effect of pictures of eyes on human behavior. First, we investigated whether the effect of eyes was limited to interaction tasks in which the subjects’ decisions influenced the outcomes of other subjects. We expanded the...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2013
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30843/ |
| _version_ | 1848794074124910592 |
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| author | Baillon, Aurelien Selim, Asli van Dolder, Dennie |
| author_facet | Baillon, Aurelien Selim, Asli van Dolder, Dennie |
| author_sort | Baillon, Aurelien |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | In an experimental setting, we applied a dual strategy to better understand the effect of pictures of eyes on human behavior. First, we investigated whether the effect of eyes was limited to interaction tasks in which the subjects’ decisions influenced the outcomes of other subjects. We expanded the range of tasks to include individual choice tasks in which the subjects’ decisions only influenced their own outcomes. Second, we investigated whether pictures of eyes were one of many social cues or were unique in their effect. We compared the effect of pictures of eyes with the effect of a different condition in which we presented the subjects with pictures of other students (peers). Our results suggest that the effect of pictures of eyes is limited to interaction tasks and that eyes should be considered distinct from other social cues, such as reminders of peers. While pictures of eyes uniformly enhanced pro-social behavior in interaction tasks, this was not the case for reminders of peers. Furthermore, the reminders of peers led to more rational behavior in individual choice tasks, whereas the effect of pictures of eyes was limited to situations involving interaction. Combined, these findings are in line with the claim that the effect of pictures of eyes on behavior is caused by a social exchange heuristic that works to enhance mutual cooperative behavior. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:10:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-30843 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:10:24Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-308432020-05-04T16:35:22Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30843/ On the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks Baillon, Aurelien Selim, Asli van Dolder, Dennie In an experimental setting, we applied a dual strategy to better understand the effect of pictures of eyes on human behavior. First, we investigated whether the effect of eyes was limited to interaction tasks in which the subjects’ decisions influenced the outcomes of other subjects. We expanded the range of tasks to include individual choice tasks in which the subjects’ decisions only influenced their own outcomes. Second, we investigated whether pictures of eyes were one of many social cues or were unique in their effect. We compared the effect of pictures of eyes with the effect of a different condition in which we presented the subjects with pictures of other students (peers). Our results suggest that the effect of pictures of eyes is limited to interaction tasks and that eyes should be considered distinct from other social cues, such as reminders of peers. While pictures of eyes uniformly enhanced pro-social behavior in interaction tasks, this was not the case for reminders of peers. Furthermore, the reminders of peers led to more rational behavior in individual choice tasks, whereas the effect of pictures of eyes was limited to situations involving interaction. Combined, these findings are in line with the claim that the effect of pictures of eyes on behavior is caused by a social exchange heuristic that works to enhance mutual cooperative behavior. Elsevier 2013-01-21 Article PeerReviewed Baillon, Aurelien, Selim, Asli and van Dolder, Dennie (2013) On the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks. Evolution and Human Behavior, 34 (2). pp. 146-154. ISSN 1090-5138 Altruism Ambiguity Compound Lotteries Cooperation Cues Dictator Game Eyes Generosity Joy of Destruction Reputation http://www.ehbonline.org/article/S1090-5138(12)00135-3/abstract doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.12.001 doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.12.001 |
| spellingShingle | Altruism Ambiguity Compound Lotteries Cooperation Cues Dictator Game Eyes Generosity Joy of Destruction Reputation Baillon, Aurelien Selim, Asli van Dolder, Dennie On the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks |
| title | On the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks |
| title_full | On the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks |
| title_fullStr | On the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks |
| title_short | On the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks |
| title_sort | on the social nature of eyes: the effect of social cues in interaction and individual choice tasks |
| topic | Altruism Ambiguity Compound Lotteries Cooperation Cues Dictator Game Eyes Generosity Joy of Destruction Reputation |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30843/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30843/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30843/ |