Question: What?
this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2025
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Apparently people are more likely to yield their seats if there is a superhero on the metro.
I'm glad batman got to sit down on the train
Idk why but this made me laugh out loud
He's gotta be tired after spending all night running around not-killing-just-initiating-medical-bankruptcy-ing people.
I came here for the memes, but I stay to learn.
I failed the bot test for this link
Restart yourself
I don't know how
Pinch your nipple and poke your bellybutton
🙁
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44184-025-00171-5
gotta love 8 co-authors, and a total gobbledigook 'main findings' paragraph that could have just said something like 25 out of 70 vs 45 out of 68 or whatever. No, the reader must want the fourth ("significant") figure of the percentages and a chi-sq test stat for an almost pointless regression.
TBF i think they only had 8 co authors because they gave credit to all the bat-men and womb-women.
But i really wish they'd addressed what happened to batman on the other two experiments - probably someone made a joke or a clown got on and batman attacked them.
I'm sorry you had to find out this way
its going to take some getting used to
This could just be an ordinary Tuesday evening on the E train in NYC.
Yeah, I don't get it.
I would 100% give up my seat to an obviously pregnant lady but that lady pictured could just be very fond of Doritos and the depth of shame and horror of being wrong would live with me forever so I'm not sure if I'd just sit in painful indecision the whole journey.
The study was cool though.
I just pretend I need to get off at the next stop and make sure to get up when they're looking so they can grab my seat. Then just walk to the other end of the cart, or to the door and look at the map only to then "realise" that this is not my stop after all and remain happily standing.
Link or title?
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:
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.
But who knows? Pretty cool study!
We need someone dressed as Batman on every street corner to make people behave. Got it.
For ethical reasons
What, I'm supposed to give up my seat in case the tubby chick isn't just a big fan of canolis?
WTF!!!??
When you need to write a thesis for that juicy title but science is hard: