Research Design Connection: Visual Disorder and Its Consequences

  How is what we see related to how ethically we behave? Kotabe, Kardan and Berman set out to answer that question and report that ā€œRecent research suggests that basic visual disorder cues may be sufficient to encourage complex rule-breaking behaviorā€¦Our results revealed that spatial features (e.g., nonstraight edges, asymmetry) are more important than color features (e.g., hue, saturation, value) for visual disorderā€¦In [experiments conducted by Kotabe and colleagues], manipulating visual disorder increased the likelihood of cheating by up to 35% and the average magnitude of cheating by up to 87%…these experiments show that simple perceptual properties of the environment can affect complex behavior and sheds light on the extent to which our actions are within our control.ā€ So, weā€™re more likely to cheat in a more visually disordered (more asymmetrical, irregular and/or unorganized, for example) environment. Hiroki Kotabe, Omid Kardan, and Marc Berman. ā€œThe Order of Disorder: Deconstructing Visual …