Losing All Hope Was Freedom (or LAHWF) is a project (with an associated YouTube channel) devoted to breaching experiments (“an experiment that seeks to examine people’s reactions to violations of commonly accepted social rules or norm”). It takes a certain bravery to engage in these experiments, say going into an elevator and facing the back wall, to see what others will do. It also hopefully requires some ethical examination; some of these experiments come off more as pranks and can disturb people (honestly, I’m not impressed with Improv Everywhere because they needlessly perturb strangers for our bemusement).
With that in mind, here are their two latest videos, where they sneak up on people and casually take their hands. Compare the experimenter and the environment between the first and second video, and look at your own reactions to the reactions they gather. The second one, for sure, is worth watching all the way through.
Tags: breaching experiment, holding hands, LAHWF
Possibly the female had more positive reactions is because she is female, less threatening, very attractive.
People are generally more open to women being open.
Comment by s portigal 07.28.12 @ 8:58 pmAgreed. That was my palpable reaction, both observing how the people in the video reacted but also how *I* reacted. I really thought the guy in the first video was soooo creepy. And the sister met with positive reactions from men (“Hey, baby!”) and women (“Oh, haha – is everything okay?”).
I guess even though we “know” those things implicitly, proving them or demonstrating is the purpose of these sorts of experiments.
Comment by Steve Portigal 07.29.12 @ 11:16 am