Abstract:

The eye effect refers to the significant changes in people’s behavior when presented with direct eye cues. The eye cues have several positive effects, such as promoting people’s prosocial behavior, reducing antisocial behavior, and increasing self-awareness. However, these positive effects brought by eye cues are often unstable, and the eye effect has yet to emerge in many studies. Therefore, the current research analyzes the reasons for the instability of the eye effect both from the perspectives of factors and mechanisms. Moreover, we review the existing research on the eye effect and describe the different effects of eye cues. After that, we propose a path to improve the robustness of the eye effect.

First of all, factors that lead to the instability of the eye effect include physiological characteristics of the eyes, emotion type, presentation time, direction of gaze, form of task interaction, number of people around, noise in the vicinity, self-awareness, group identity, and behavioral costs. Notably, to our knowledge, the current research first discusses the different categories of self-awareness in a unified framework. Specifically, it identifies the relationship between eye effect and self-awareness. In addition, we propose that the eye effect may be jointly influenced by individual trait self-consciousness and state self-consciousness and discuss the interactions between the two in detail.

Second, in terms of psychological related mechanisms, reputation, and rule mechanisms can make the eye effect unstable. Specifically, the eye effect will be unstable if people’s reputation is not affected or they do not care about others’ evaluations. Furthermore, if people’s perceived norms are different from the actual norms, the eye cue will prompt the individual to comply with the self-perceived norms, resulting in inconsistent direction of behavior change and instability of the eye effect. Because the rule mechanism dominates when people pursue a good reputation and avoid normative social norms conflict.

Third, the current research proposes a feasible solution to improve the robustness of the eye effect. Additionally, we propose practical scenarios in which the eye cues can be applied in people’s daily lives. We aimed to realize the social value of the eye effect and provide a low-cost, easy-to-use, simple, and efficient practical strategy for actively guiding individuals to maintain social harmony.

Last but not least, the current research proposes several directions for the future research: First, future research could refine the types of eye cues to extend the study’s scope of application, as well as observe whether individual differences in the level of understanding of eye stimuli. Second, it is necessary to observe whether the expectation of future rewards or the fear of social punishment plays a dominant role in the eye effect in conjunction with individual differences. Third, future research may conduct longitudinal comparisons at different developmental stages of individuals to explore differences in the mechanisms behind the eye effect across developmental stages. Fourth, conducting field studies to improve the ecological validity of research in this area by incorporating cultural differences. Finally, combining cognitive neuroscience techniques to explore the emotions through which the eye cue works.

In conclusion, by providing a fully integrated theoretical framework for the factors and psychological related mechanisms affecting the eye effect, the current research deepens the understanding of the eye effect and provides a valuable and feasible path for future research.

Key words: eye cues, watching eyes effect, reputation, self-consciousness, psychological related mechanism