As reported by the
Financial Times, academics from the
University of Toronto are behind a study which found a correlation between wearing dark sunglasses and morally dubious behaviour. In partnership with the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina researchers from the Rotman School at the University of Toronto discovered through a series of experiments that wearing sunglasses consistently linked individuals with selfish behaviour. The findings of the study were recently published in
Psychological Science.
"In a series of experiments, academics from the
Rotman School at the University of Toronto and
Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
discovered that wearing sunglasses - giving the illusion of darkness
and a sense of anonymity led individuals to behave more selfishly. They
also discovered that when faced with a series of tests linked to
financial remuneration, those participants taking part in a darkened
room tended to behave more dishonestly than those in a well-lit room."
"Across
three studies we found that darkness, induced by room dimness or
sunglasses, licensed self-interested and cheating behaviour. In
addition, an illusory sense of anonymity seems to mediate this
licensing effect of darkness." say the academics.""Darkness appears to induce a false sense of concealment, leading people to feel that their identities are hidden."
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hereoriginal source
Financial Times