Many studies have confirmed this: Eye contact greatly increases the chances of gaining cooperation in various experimental games (it worked for Seinfeld’s George, by the way). Curiously, the eyes do not even need to be real. One study showed that the presence of cartoon eyes on a computer screen made people give more money to another unseen player than when the eyes were not present.40 In another study, researchers put photographs of eyes above an “honor system” coffee machine in a university break room.41 The next week, they replaced it with a photograph of flowers. This cycle was repeated
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