"Folks, we have some revolutionary sociological research to share with you today. After making a guy dressed as Batman stand around in a subway car, a team of researchers found that the behavior of people around him suddenly improved the moment he showed up. No longer was everyone completely self-involved; with the presence of a superhero, commuters started helping each other more than they would've without him around. Behold: the "Batman effect.""
"The findings of the unorthodox study, published in the journal npj Mental Health Research, demonstrate the power of introducing something offbeat into social situations to jolt people out of the mental autopilot they slip into to navigate the drudgery of everyday life."
"In a series of experiments, the researchers had a woman who visibly appeared pregnant enter a busy train, and observed how often people offered to give up their seats. They then repeated this scenario with a crucial change: when the pregnant woman entered the train from one door, a man dressed as Batman entered from another. In all, the team observed 138 passengers, and the results were clear-cut. Over 67 percent of passengers offered their seats when Batman was present, compared to just over 37 percent when Batman wasn't there. Most, in both cases, were women: 68 percent with Batman there, and 65 without him."
Presence of a person dressed as Batman entering a subway car coincided with a marked increase in prosocial behavior: offers of seats to a visibly pregnant woman rose from about 37 percent to about 67 percent. Observers recorded 138 passengers; most who offered seats were women (approximately 68 percent with Batman present, 65 percent without). Introducing an unexpected, attention-grabbing stimulus appears to jolt commuters out of mental autopilot, promote present-moment awareness, and increase attunement to social cues, thereby boosting helping behaviors in everyday public settings.
Read at Futurism
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