Word: zhong
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...study, Zhong and his colleagues took a subtler approach, but one that's likely to have more real-world implications. In the first part of their three-part experiment, they recruited 84 students and divided them between a brightly lit room with 10 fluorescent bulbs burning and a dimmer room with only four bulbs. The subjects were each given a brown envelope with $10 in singles and coins as well as an empty white envelope. They were all then told they had five minutes to complete a simple mathematical task, looking for pairs of numbers that added...
...final part of the experiment, Zhong and his colleagues re-ran the sunglasses test, but also asked the participants to complete a questionnaire in which they agreed or disagreed on a 1-to-7 scale with statements like "I was anonymous during the study," "I was watched during the study" and "Others were paying attention to my behavior during the study." Again, the people wearing sunglasses scored significantly higher on the perception of anonymity study, even though they all rationally knew the glasses made no difference. (See the 25 crimes of the century...
...seated facing them would see the room the same way they do, instead of from the opposite perspective. It's also the reason that in adulthood, we tend to overestimate the ability of others to notice when we're nervous or distracted, simply because we feel that way. Says Zhong: "We believe this behavior is learned through our early experiences with darkness and also our egocentric biases...
...Zhong and his colleagues do not recommend flooding trading floors or K Street lobbyists' offices with light in order to enforce ethical behavior - at least not yet. But they do speculate that even when we communicate via e-mail, we may be more inclined to lie or distort if the lights are low than if the room were filled with sunshine. Perhaps the next time you - or your kids - sit down at the computer to chat or text, it's best to raise the blinds and insist that the person on the other...
...original version of this story misidentified the gender of researcher Chen-Bo Zhong, who is male...