<p>Your hypothesis is true, priming can affect human behavior in many different ways. Specifically pro-social behavior can be encouraged by simply displaying an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1686213/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">image of a pair of eyes</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>We examined the effect of an image of a pair of eyes on contributions
  to an honesty box used to collect money for drinks in a university
  coffee room. People paid nearly three times as much for their drinks
  when eyes were displayed rather than a control image. This finding
  provides the first evidence from a naturalistic setting of the
  importance of cues of being watched, and hence reputational concerns,
  on human cooperative behaviour.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Also in a similar <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3855385/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">study</a> the following results are found.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>We also found that
  images of watching eyes reduced littering, although contrary to
  previous findings this was only when there were larger numbers of
  people around. With regard to our central aim, we found no evidence
  that litter on the ground interacted non-additively with images of
  eyes to induce increased littering behaviour. Our data therefore
  support the hypothesis that images of eyes induce more pro-social
  behaviour, independent of local norms. This finding has positive
  implications for the application of eye images in combating
  anti-social behaviour.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-13T14:06:17.157Z
I saw the first study being demonstrated on a TV documentary a while ago and found that interesting.  I wish I could remember what the documentary was called
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-13T06:09:14.030Z
2018-02-13T06:09:14.030Z
DesignerAnalyst
<p>I have a hypothesis that if you prime people with self-image or social-image concerns, they will behave less anti-socially and more prosocially. For example, they litter less, they discriminate less against racial minorities, etc.</p>

<p>Are there any such studies examining this? If not, how can I prime people with self-image or social-image concerns?</p>

<priming>
Priming people with self-image/social-image concerns
wwl
# Priming people with self-image/social-image concerns

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-13)

I have a hypothesis that if you prime people with self-image or social-image concerns, they will behave less anti-socially and more prosocially. For example, they litter less, they discriminate less against racial minorities, etc.

Are there any such studies examining this? If not, how can I prime people with self-image or social-image concerns?

**Tags:** priming


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-02-13. Score: 1

Your hypothesis is true, priming can affect human behavior in many different ways. Specifically pro-social behavior can be encouraged by simply displaying an [image of a pair of eyes](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1686213/).

> We examined the effect of an image of a pair of eyes on contributions
> to an honesty box used to collect money for drinks in a university
> coffee room. People paid nearly three times as much for their drinks
> when eyes were displayed rather than a control image. This finding
> provides the first evidence from a naturalistic setting of the
> importance of cues of being watched, and hence reputational concerns,
> on human cooperative behaviour.

Also in a similar [study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3855385/) the following results are found.

> We also found that
> images of watching eyes reduced littering, although contrary to
> previous findings this was only when there were larger numbers of
> people around. With regard to our central aim, we found no evidence
> that litter on the ground interacted non-additively with images of
> eyes to induce increased littering behaviour. Our data therefore
> support the hypothesis that images of eyes induce more pro-social
> behaviour, independent of local norms. This finding has positive
> implications for the application of eye images in combating
> anti-social behaviour.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I saw the first study being demonstrated on a TV documentary a while ago and found that interesting.  I wish I could remember what the documentary was called  

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