Honesty Coffee stations in offices often just ask users to leave money in a tray to pay for their coffee, but many people cheat. Researchers at Newcastle University alternately taped two posters over...

Honesty Coffee stations in offices often just ask users to leave money in a tray to pay for their coffee, but many people cheat. Researchers at Newcastle University alternately taped two posters over the coffee station. During one week, it was a picture of flowers; during the other, it was a pair of staring eyes. They found that the average contribution was significantly higher when the eyes poster was up than when the flowers were there. Apparently, the mere feeling of being watched—even by eyes that were not real—was enough to encourage people to behave more honestly. (Source: NY Times, Dec. 10, 2006)