Folks, we have some revolutionary sociological research to share with you today.
After making a guy dressed as Batman stand around in a subway car, a team of researchers found that the behavior of people around him suddenly improved the moment he showed up. No longer was everyone completely self-involved; with the presence of a superhero, commuters started helping each other more than they would’ve without him around.
Behold: the “Batman effect.”
I find these results quite surprising, since I feel like I would be far less likely to notice someone needing my seat if there was a distracting person in a superhero costume. But maybe people audibly react, which causes more people to look up from their phones?