The Observer Effect in Psychology

In psychology, the observer effect is the name given to the phenomenon that occurs when the subject of a study alters their behavior because they are aware of the observer's presence. This results in incorrect data: the researcher records behavior that is not the way the subject actually behaves when not under observation.

For me, the interesting thing about this definition is that as far as the Ego is concerned, we’re always being observed, and much of the time it feels as if we are being judged. And that fact leads to one of the core principles of this work: much of the behavior we observe in ourselves and in others isn’t authentic.

Over the last few decades, I have become acutely aware of the degree to which I modify my own behavior so as to fit the needs of others. That pattern began, of course, with trying to please my parents so as to earn their support and avoid their criticism. It is commonly understood that the parent/child relationship becomes the template for all other relationships, and I can see the truth of that in my own life. It is clear to me that I have spent much of my life acting in such a way as to please others and avoid their negative judgments.

So, the observer effect in psychology is something we can observe for ourselves if we pay attention to why we act or react the way we do. However, that turns out to be easier said than done. I believe the difficulty is due to what is often called the internal dialog, the parrot on our shoulders that’s always telling us what to do.

Many years ago, I had an experience in which the true nature of the voice I listen to all day came into stark relief. Like all of us, I had spent a lifetime listening to that voice articulate all my thoughts. I had always believed that the voice I was listening to was mine. In one moment however, someone drew my attention to the possibility that my internal dialog is an externally imposed phenomenon. The person suggested that the voice I hear is culturally derived. “It”, the Ego, is designed to tell me what to do to please other people. It tries to maintain its position as the authority and the executive in my personality, and It isn’t my voice at all.

In that moment, It reacted to the suggestion that it is not my voice as if It were being threatened. The Ego said, “This is evil.”

Accepting or rejecting your own Inner Dialogue

John Hain from Pixabay

Since that moment several decades ago, I have, with steadily increasing ability, been able to objectively observe that voice as It continues to offer its analysis of the situations in which I find myself. I have been able to experience a newfound freedom to either accept or reject Its advice. I believe that leads to true freedom and authentic behavior of the human being.

In studying this phenomenon, I have come to suspect that every other person in my experience is absorbed in listening to their own “It” and is not concerned with judging me at all. So, my interpretation of the observer effect is all about our own mistaken identification with the voice in our heads.

It occurs to me in this context that listening objectively to the voice also negates the observer effect in psychology, because it was the voice in my head that played the role of the critical and judgmental observer. There is still the observer, of course, the non-judgmental witness of all that I experience, that which I have come to know as who I really am, my true Self.