I would 100% give up my seat to an obviously pregnant lady but that lady pictured could just be very fond of Doritos and the depth of shame and horror of being wrong would live with me forever so I’m not sure if I’d just sit in painful indecision the whole journey.
I’d be interested to know! My guess is the results would be similar. The article does say:
Professor Pagnini adds, "Unlike traditional mindfulness interventions that require active engagement, this study highlights how situational interruptions alone may be sufficient to produce similar effects.
But also!!!
44% of those who offered their seats in the experimental condition reported not having seen Batman
which is interesting (how do you not notice Batman?! :D)
I would hypothesize that they are noticing Batman on an unconscious level, but it was not salient enough to enter their conscious thought processes. And therefore if you replicated the experiment with an interruption to the daily routine that does not have superhero morality connotations (e.g. the gorilla suit) the result might not be as pronounced, and not as many people would give up their seat to the pregnant lady.
I just pretend I need to get off at the next stop and make sure to get up when they’re looking so they can grab my seat. Then just walk to the other end of the cart, or to the door and look at the map only to then “realise” that this is not my stop after all and remain happily standing.
I would 100% give up my seat to an obviously pregnant lady but that lady pictured could just be very fond of Doritos and the depth of shame and horror of being wrong would live with me forever so I’m not sure if I’d just sit in painful indecision the whole journey.
The study was cool though.
Link or title?
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-batman-effect-mere-sight-superhero.html
This is awesome, thank you!
I wonder what the effect would be with a gorilla suit instead of a Batman…
I’d be interested to know! My guess is the results would be similar. The article does say:
But also!!!
which is interesting (how do you not notice Batman?! :D)
I would hypothesize that they are noticing Batman on an unconscious level, but it was not salient enough to enter their conscious thought processes. And therefore if you replicated the experiment with an interruption to the daily routine that does not have superhero morality connotations (e.g. the gorilla suit) the result might not be as pronounced, and not as many people would give up their seat to the pregnant lady.
But who knows? Pretty cool study!
I just pretend I need to get off at the next stop and make sure to get up when they’re looking so they can grab my seat. Then just walk to the other end of the cart, or to the door and look at the map only to then “realise” that this is not my stop after all and remain happily standing.