Nov 28, 2025 06:01 PM
www.sciencealert.com/scientists-found-a-weird-way-to-make-people-kinder-add-batman
EXCERPTS: . . . So why would seeing Batman make people be nicer to each other? It turns out that it's probably not from fear of looking like a bad guy in front of a guy famous for beating up villains.
[...] "Interestingly, among those who left their spot in the experimental condition, nobody directly associated their gesture with the presence of Batman, and 14 (43.75 percent) reported that they did not see Batman at all."
Instead, the team hypothesizes, it might just be that seeing something unexpected around you makes you more self-aware, and thus more likely to notice someone else in need.
[...] This might happen subconsciously, which is why nobody directly tied their philanthropy to the presence of the Dark Knight. Those who reported not noticing Batman at all are a little harder to explain, but the team says that they might instead have noticed the kerfuffle Batman caused among other passengers.
However, increased awareness of their surroundings isn't the only potential explanation, the team says.
"It is also possible that the superhero figure enhanced the relevance of cultural values, gender roles, and norms of chivalrous helping, consistent with research on the 'priming' effect related to superheroes: the figure of Batman could, in other words, play a prosocial priming role," says Francesco Pagnini, psychologist at UniCatt.
To find out for sure, the researchers suggest running similar experiments with different characters to see if the phenomenon is unique to Batman. Would people still increase their altruism in the presence of, say, Darth Vader, who's not exactly known for his prosocial behavior?
The research was published in the journal npj Mental Health Research. (MORE - details)
EXCERPTS: . . . So why would seeing Batman make people be nicer to each other? It turns out that it's probably not from fear of looking like a bad guy in front of a guy famous for beating up villains.
[...] "Interestingly, among those who left their spot in the experimental condition, nobody directly associated their gesture with the presence of Batman, and 14 (43.75 percent) reported that they did not see Batman at all."
Instead, the team hypothesizes, it might just be that seeing something unexpected around you makes you more self-aware, and thus more likely to notice someone else in need.
[...] This might happen subconsciously, which is why nobody directly tied their philanthropy to the presence of the Dark Knight. Those who reported not noticing Batman at all are a little harder to explain, but the team says that they might instead have noticed the kerfuffle Batman caused among other passengers.
However, increased awareness of their surroundings isn't the only potential explanation, the team says.
"It is also possible that the superhero figure enhanced the relevance of cultural values, gender roles, and norms of chivalrous helping, consistent with research on the 'priming' effect related to superheroes: the figure of Batman could, in other words, play a prosocial priming role," says Francesco Pagnini, psychologist at UniCatt.
To find out for sure, the researchers suggest running similar experiments with different characters to see if the phenomenon is unique to Batman. Would people still increase their altruism in the presence of, say, Darth Vader, who's not exactly known for his prosocial behavior?
The research was published in the journal npj Mental Health Research. (MORE - details)