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.
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!