Batman on the subway boosts seat-offering by 80%
Unexpected events and prosocial behavior: the Batman effect
A field experiment in the Milan metro found that the presence of a person dressed as Batman significantly increased the likelihood that passengers would offer their seat to a pregnant woman. In the control condition, 37.66% of passengers gave up their seat, but with Batman present, the rate jumped to 67.21%. The effect was substantial, with an odds ratio of 3.39, even though many helpers did not consciously notice Batman. The findings suggest that unexpected, non-threatening disruptions to routine can enhance prosocial behavior, possibly by increasing present-moment awareness or acting as a prosocial prime.
Interestingly, among those who left their spot in the experimental condition, nobody directly associated their gesture with the presence of Batman, and 14 (43.75%) reported that they did not see Batman at all.
- jonplackett
Is it just about pushing people out of autopilot? When commuting in particularly people are just in their own world.
I’ve noticed a similar effect when it snows here in london. It’s unusual and it’s like a common adversary to everyone and everyone becomes more chatty on public transport
- baxtr
I didn’t find any mentioned of the well studied Hawthorne effect known since the 1920s or so.
It describes the psychological phenomenon where people improve their social behavior simply because they know they are being observed, for example washing their hands.
If I had to guess I’d say they observed exactly this. But they don’t mention it.
- wolfi1
in German we had some years ago the saying: "Sei Du selbst, es sei denn, Du kannst Batman sein, dann sei Batman" - 'Be yourself, except if you can be Batman, then be Batman'
- andai
To untangle the variables (Batman being associated with morality), they should test it again with the Joker.
- gwerbin
I like that they didn't try to make it some subliminal superhero tie-in and instead proposed the more plausible mechanism of increasing attention to surroundings in the presence of something unusual.