In a late contender for the strangest scientific discovery of the year, researchers have concluded that people are innately kinder when Batman is present, whether they’re aware of him or not.
In the paper ‘Unexpected events of prosocial behavior: the Batman effect‘, Italian clinical psychologists conducted a unique experiment. First, they had a woman who appeared pregnant board busy subway cars and counted how many people offered her a seat. Then they repeated this, but with “an additional experimenter dressed as Batman” entering the carriage from another door.
“The Batman effect” kicked in, with passengers sharing a carriage with Batman significantly more likely to offer their seat to the pregnant woman when the Dark Knight was present. In an interesting twist, people were more inclined toward kindness even if they hadn’t actively noticed Batman was in the train car.
I love this study so much. THE BATMAN EFFECT https://t.co/Tb9XT6VLqO pic.twitter.com/WS2R7ZIKGc
— Dr. Jen Golbeck (@jengolbeck) November 28, 2025
So why is this? The conclusion theorizes that the presence of an unusual element in the environment encourages people to be more mindful. This means they notice the pregnant woman and so offer their seat to her. Alternatively, they think “superhero-related priming” in media may predispose people towards noble and chivalrous acts to emulate his heroism.
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”
Theoretically, the same should apply to Spider-Man or Superman, though the researchers are careful to note that “it remains unclear, however, whether the observed effect is unique to Batman or would also emerge with other unexpected figures”.
The Batman effect: Passengers were significantly more likely to offer their train seat to a pregnant woman when Batman was present (67% vs 37%).https://t.co/k10zWfxXSW
—SchizoDuckie
It’s noted that Batman presents “positive symbolism”, raising the question of whether “negative symbolism” would have an opposite effect. Would the presence of the Joker on public transport encourage acts of small-minded villainy and pettiness? Enquiring minds want to know!
And as for why even those who didn’t notice Batman were kinder? Those passengers might have subconsciously noted a shift in behavior in other passengers, nudging them towards mindfulness even without seeing Batman first-hand.
Further experimentation is necessary and, while this may all sound a little silly, perhaps there’s some genuine social good to be had by promoting mindfulness by introducing an unexpected element into public spaces. And if said “unexpected element” has to be Batman, then so be it.
