The Watching Eyes Effect Predicts In-Game Penalties for Professional Sports

The “watching eyes effect” suggests implicit surveillance cues like eyes can facilitate prosocial behavior, or at least a reduction in antisocial behavior compared to situations without such cues. This effect has been replicated and extended in various domains, yet mixed and heterogenous findings at the meta-analytic level require additional research to understand how eye cues may link to behavioral outcomes in different settings. The current study tested the watching eyes effect in a field study using National Football League data from 2016-2022 (N = 930 games), using penalties per game as a proxy for antisocial behavior (e.g., behavior that is reputationally damaging to oneself or one’s group) in professional sport. Teams playing opponents with eyes in their logos had nearly 7% fewer penalties per game, on average, than teams playing opponents without eyes, largely supporting the reputational hypothesis that argues eye cues (compared to the absence of eye cues) link to a reduction in antisocial behavior out of concern for being seen as a good, competent, or credible player for one’s team. Exploratory analyses further suggested the area of the eye in each logo was negatively associated with penalty rates, indicating how eye size is a critical component of the watching eyes effect as well. Implications for this replication study are discussed.