In 1785, the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham created what he called the “ideal prison,” a group of cells built in a circular fashion around a tower in the center with a hidden guard who can watch the prisoners’ movements without them seeing him, so that the prisoner assumes at all times that the guard may be watching him, which forces him to act and deal in this way permanently.
Similarly, many people nowadays feel that an unknown third party is constantly watching them. Millions of CCTV cameras are constantly following you as you walk, drive and shop, and even algorithmic formulas running on artificial intelligence It tracks your online activity and recognizes your interests around the clock, especially since some modern applications can identify you just by looking at your facial features.
A psychologist at Claremont Avern University in France Clement Pelletier The effect of the feeling of being watched is a major issue in psychology. In 1898, psychologist Norman Triplett proved that cyclists put more effort into racing in the presence of spectators.
In the 1970s, studies confirmed that people change their behaviors when they feel they are being watched, in order to preserve their social status.
Decades of research have revealed that the feeling of being watched not only alters behavior, but also changes thinking, and researchers say these findings raise concerns about the mental health of humans in general.
Experiments have shown that humans instantly sense that someone is looking at them, even in crowded places, and that this characteristic appears early in life.
discomfort
A specialist in social cognitive cognition at the University of Waterloo in Canada Clara Colombatto points to a sense of unease that a person feels when they feel they are being watched, and this internal feeling is reflected in some external indicators such as sweating, for example.
On a cognitive level, humans behave differently when they are under surveillance, as their behaviors become better aligned with societal norms, such as being less likely to cheat or litter in the street when they are being watched, Colombato told Scientific American.
Such theories reinforce the idea that surveillance is beneficial to society to prevent certain harmful behaviors such as crime, which is consistent with Bentham’s “perfect prison.”
In recent years, however, some psychology researchers have found that the feeling of being watched affects human cognitive functions, such as memory and the ability to concentrate.
An experiment found that volunteers performing a task requiring cognitive skill or recalling information from memory performed worse when photographs of people looking at them were placed in front of them.
The researchers concluded from this experiment that looking directly at someone distracts them and impairs their ability to perform.
Other experiments have found that other mental functions – such as spatial perception or language processing abilities – are also negatively affected when a person feels under surveillance.
“Fight or flight” mechanism
Researcher Kylie Seymour of the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, says that the feeling of being watched leads to the acceleration of human social processing mechanisms, activating the survival instinct known as “fight or flight,” and this mechanism has an impact on mental abilities.
In statements to Scientific American, Seymour explained that the “electronic eyes” that look at us affect mental health, and have a worse effect on patients with some mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, and may lead to social anxiety and even stress.
“The sense of constant surveillance in the modern age makes us constantly alert to our social environment, ready to react,” she said.
French philosopher Michel Foucault revisits Jeremy Bentham’s “perfect prison” theory, saying that the feeling of being under surveillance has become ingrained in the human being, meaning that like a prisoner in a cell, the modern man constantly feels like he is being watched by AI algorithms, social media software and cryptographic applications, without knowing exactly who is watching him.
Psychologist Clement Pelletier argues that the constant sense of surveillance affects cognitive perception in a way that we don’t yet fully understand.
“The mental capacities that are negatively affected by surveillance are the same capacities that make us focus, pay attention and recall memories,” he explains, so when these capacities are strained under the influence of surveillance, the ability to focus, for example, declines.
A number of studies have shown that the feeling of being watched in the work environment reduces productivity, and that students who take tests in front of surveillance cameras achieve lower grades.
“50 years ago we didn’t have this much surveillance and social connections, we are living in a new social context that we are not yet familiar with, so it is important to think about the impact on our cognitive abilities, including within the human subconscious,” concludes researcher Clara Colombatto.
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2025-06-01 14:16:00
