Unexpected events and prosocial behavior: the Batman effect (2025) | Hacker News Reader

Unexpected events and prosocial behavior: the Batman effect (2025)

nature.com

82 pointsdavidbarker33 comments

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

They deal with this in the discussion after stating in the abstract that 43.75% of people who offered their seat didn't consciously notice the person dressed as Batman:

"Interestingly, while the data suggest that this perturbation may have a strong effect, a notable percentage of individuals were not consciously aware of the reason behind it. Given that attention is socially influenced (e.g., the phenomenon where people instinctively look toward the same point of interest as those around them), we can hypothesize that the pattern of awareness triggered by a disruption in routine may be socially transmitted, extending beyond its original cause. This may also help account for the subset of participants who reported not noticing Batman but nevertheless offered their seat. A speculative interpretation is that the disruptive effect can operate at an interpersonal level: shifts in attention or prosocial cues triggered in some individuals may spread socially within the group, influencing behavior even among those not directly aware of the initial disruption, consistently with research on the social contagion and interpersonal synchrony of prosocial and emotional behaviors."

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.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect

How would the people on the metro know they were being observed?

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'

Du Bist Gut Genug

To untangle the variables (Batman being associated with morality), they should test it again with the Joker.

street fights already demonstrate that; not sure if there is need to test it explicitly.

...they make people more mindful and considerate?

Have read about 50-100 Psychology paper abstracts. This is the first time I've understood a Psychology paper abstract in the first read. Kudos for that.

so true , this is so simple enough , this describes the whole experiment in some sentence .

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.

I haven't read the paper but did they propose reduction in social anxiety/awkwardness associated with putting yourself as the center of attention when someone else is being much more visible and awkward in the same space?

At the same time, the experiment doesn't corroborate this take at all. If it were a mix of different "unexpected events", then you might have an argument there. As the experiment is, I'd say, it would have been better to leave that speculation out of the synthesis.

(67.21% vs. 37.66%, OR = 3.393, p < 0.001). Notably, 44% of those who offered their seat in the experimental condition reported not seeing Batman. These findings suggest that unexpected events can promote prosociality, even without conscious awareness,

No it does not mean that, it means you can't do multiplication, 67.21 * 0.44 = 29.5724.

About 8 percent of the people that were going to give their seat anyway, happened to see batman, the rest were too busy offering their seat.

Now imagine if other researchers do some other experiments to test the same theory and it actually ends up having some predictive power. But they won't, and it won't. This'll just be another isolated curiosity that contributes nothing to our understanding of human behavior and the other researchers will do their own weak, poorly controlled experiments that are just as go-nowhere.

> We conducted 138 observation sessions (61 experimental condition, 77 control condition). In the control condition, the chances that a passenger would leave their spot were 37.66%, while when Batman was there, the chances increased to 67.21%.

imaginary character bumps up the chances of helping others - who could have guessed we are such fine species?

Does this mean religion can be good for the third of the population that needs an imaginary character to be good?

of course. this experiment is not novel. in the courts witness would swear on the bible (not sure now).

Heard this from an Indian friend, and not sure how much of this true - Indian cities used to have problem of folks chewing tobacco and spitting everywhere, so in some places they would have an icon of a Hindu god, and it worked (maybe not with non-hindu).

> Heard this from an Indian friend, and not sure how much of this true - Indian cities used to have problem of folks chewing tobacco and spitting everywhere, so in some places they would have an icon of a Hindu god, and it worked (maybe not with non-hindu).

Probably worked with non-hindu as well; after all, people don't usually spit on or in front of religious idols even if those idols are from a different religion.

You don't need to be religious to not spit in front of an idol... I mean if someone put their bag there you would also not spit there. The experiment needs to be repeated with more items!

Brain-rot caused by US cultural dominance, not surprising that this took place in Northern Italy (try this Southwards of Rome, see how it goes), could as well have been the former West Germany, the Nordic countries, Benelux and even France (not to mention the UK). Americanization is a hell of a drug.

not disagreeing with you; but, it's not like Europeans were any better in not smearing the world with their religion, diseases, violence, and last but not least stealing other peoples land and making steady money by keeping the stolen treasure in the museums.

The article mentions (in a "further research" kind of way) some of the obvious reasons that superhero associations specifically might elicit this response, when other pattern-disrupting surprises might not. But there's also this:

> If unexpected yet non-threatening events

Culturally, in some cities, some people would wonder whether the person in the Batman costume is mentally ill and a threat (how much, varying partly on how good of actors the two are, and how they play it). This will activate modes of thinking, possibly including thoughts of protecting others. Possibly compounding this, if the photo is during an experiment, then that suggests that, although "Batman" enters "from another door", he ends up standing right next to "pregnant woman", and therefore possibly a threat to the woman.

It would help to know how the person who gave up their seat then positioned themselves, and whether they kept an eye on Batman. Might also help to know how other people visibly reacted to Batman, other then generic unexpected event. Maybe you could get some sense of this with analysis of good video coverage, or, more subjectively, with one or more skilled intuitive observers.

Also, if the photo was obtained with a non-hidden camera, during the experiment, did people noticing someone taking photos affect their behavior?

Or could the prosocial behavior be prompted not by the unexpected merely disrupting one's internal patterns, but by one's awareness of others suddenly paying more attention (not everyone immersed in phones/tablets/books/earbuds) activating more prosocial behavior?

Or the disruption of the social context for others making it culturally easier to offer your seat? More distraction, shared experience in lighthearted moment, whatever.

(If you've been in the usual seat-giving-up situation in a crowded subway car, culturally, you might be almost embarrassed to offer your seat, not wanting the attention, nor to be seen as seeking praise, nor to embarrass anyone else who didn't give up their seat. You might start to get up, in such as way as to block a person who looks like they might grab it, and open up a path to the person you intend to offer it to, as you get their attention, maybe you say something like "ma'am" only loud enough for them to hear, as you gesture, they probably accept and say thank you, "no problem", then you walk away, as well as you can walk away in a subway car.)

Who sees someone cosplaying and thinks "well that person is clearly mentally ill and a danger"?

I don't. I think some people will, depending (as I said) on the acting. The research is about how people behave.

We live in the age, well the seeming end of the age, of superhero movies being a global phenomenon. I can't think of a single person who would see someone dressed as a superhero and think they were mentally unwell let alone a threat.

Maybe it's a lack of imagination on my part but other than some people sneering at "nerds doing nerd shit" this doesn't hold at all for me.

You're imagining someone genuinely doing cosplay, not someone, who may not be a perfect actor, trying to pull that off, and also stick to experiment protocol.

AFAIK, many (most?) people can pick up on subtle cues that something is off in that person's behavior, in their expressions, body language, how and where they look and don't, etc. And the experiment intentionally draws bystanders' attention, so many of those cues will in their sight.

Perhaps this is another "further research".

  > culturally, you might be almost embarrassed to offer your seat

Haha exactly, but what's worse: the old person might think "damn! Another kid who believe I'm too old to stand up. Let's pretend I'm thankful to not embarrass him " :)

Oh yeah, that happens. Have to play it by ear.

In one kind of scenario, the freeing up of the seat has to be more discreet/subtle, and if there's a likely sense you did it intentionally, then an unspoken tone of "hey, I'm getting off the train, and this seat is free" or "I got your back, buddy", and maybe a hint of deferential respect if they're significant older than you (but not like you're calling them "old").

Key learning - if you’re pregnant travel with a friend dressed as Batman

This seems like an unserious experiment from the premise, but it could be interesting. But has this effect been replicated?

Batman costume != “unexpected events”

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