Researcher Melissa Bateson of the School of Biology and Psychology at Newcastle University found that people were more prepared to dig cash out of their pockets when they were under the gaze of a picture of a pair of eyes, instead of a picture of flowers. People coughed up almost 3 times as much cash into a donation box when they were being 'watched'.
It's a way of making people behave more honestly in an experiment that could aid strategies for tackling anti-social behaviour. Now, armed with this insight, police are trying a new technique to combat crime.
By putting posters of watchful eyes in crime hot spots, they hope to make would-be crooks think twice.
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