A group of researchers at Newcastle University set out to observe the littering behavior of students in a university cafeteria. Posters at eye level displayed pictures of human eyes staring out at the hungry students all around the cafeteria. Strangely, researchers discovered people were twice as likely to clean up after themselves when surrounded by the eye posters.
This and other studies suggest that even on a subconscious level, we modify our behavior if our brain tells us we’re being watched. Even though I know the eyes on those posters can’t see me, I’m wired in such a way to pay attention to them.
When it comes to facing Internet temptations, knowing others are watching us can change the way we behave—and there are good biblical reasons why.
Triple-A Engine of Porn
From the earliest days of the Internet, social scientists have noted what’s called the “online disinhibition effect.” Basically, people say and do things online they wouldn’t say and do in their “real lives.”
This goes for pornography and cybersex as well. Several years ago the late psychologist Alvin Cooper theorized that Internet pornography was alluring due to three primary factors: it’s accessible, it’s affordable, and it’s anonymous—what he called the “Triple-A Engine.” These three aspects of Internet porn open the door wide to online temptations.
Little can be done about the affordability of pornography: it’s freely available at hundreds of thousands of online portals. And unless you eliminate all contact to computers and smartphones, porn will always be accessible in some fashion. This is why many people seek to remove the third factor: anonymity. If I no longer have the option to view pornography in secret, I’m much less likely to view it at all. If someone I trust is monitoring my online activity, I’m more likely to avoid temptations altogether.
Secrecy and Sexual Sin
Secrecy and sexual sin often go hand in hand.
The apostle Paul said those whose lives are marked by sexual immorality, impurity, and greed (Eph. 5:3) commit shameful acts “in secret” (v. 12). He depicts this way of life as hiding in “darkness” (vv. 8, 11). Sin seeks out the darkness so its deeds aren’t exposed to God or to others (John 3:20).
Christians are meant to walk in the light. Among other things, this means we must fight both the illusion of secrecy and also our tendency to create private corners where sin can thrive. This is especially true in an age like ours when there are thousands of digital corners in which to hide.
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