Effects of the one-way mirror on family therapy

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1 journal of Family Therapy (1987) 9: Effects of the one-way mirror on family therapy Rajendra D. Persaud* The one-way screen often used in family therapy is usually a mirror and may have unsuspected effects, ensuring that clients behaviour in therapy reflects social acceptability and personal values, rather than their usual interactions. Introduction One-way mirrors are used in family therapy to allow the interaction between clients and therapists to be observed. However, while mirrors reflect images clients may view themselves, and I contend that this effect may be a governing factor in clients behaviour. By allowing a person to see him or herself as seen by others, a mirror may increase awareness of self. There are other interventions which also do this: playing back a subject s tape-recorded voice or confronting subjects with a camera. Therapy may also increase self awareness. Some research findings Some workers have investigated the effects of mirrors on individual human behaviour. Bearman et al. (1979) enabled children to take more candy than was allowed. Placing a mirror in the room where the candy was available markedly reduced the incidence of candy stealing. Wicklund and Duval(197 1) showed that the effect of mirror images on copying foreign prose was to improve task performance. Accepted version received July * Preregistration House Officer in General Medicine and Cardiology at Northwick Park Hospital and the Clinical Research Centre, Harrow, Middlesex /87/ The Association for Family Therapy

2 76 R. D. Persaud Diener and Wallbom (1976) reported on college students, who when asked, said that cheating was morally wrong. When given a timed IQtest and a chance to work illicitly beyond the time limit, 70% of them did so. When a mirror was introduced during testing, this rate was reduced to only 7%. They cheated less. Gibbons (1978) asked subjects to rate what he termed sex guilt or distaste for pornography. When these subjects then rated pornographic literature in a controlled environment, their earlier-rated sex guilt had almost no correlation with their distaste for pornography, but when confronted with their mirror images there was a definite relationship. Sheier et al. (1974) explored the effect of mirrors on eliciting the ethic against cruelty. Male subjects were less likely to give painful shocks to a female undergraduate victim in the presence of a mirror. Carver (1975) asked subjects to rate the level of punishment they thought was required to teach a subject to a pupil. The initially-rated level was not represented in the actual punishment meted out while teaching a pupil. But if subjects were presented with their mirror images while administering punishment, their behaviour clearly correlated with their earlier-stated propensity to punish or not to punish while teaching. So, with the mirror present, their behaviour reflected their expressed view. The mirror in these experiments influences behaviour. It tends to make behaviour reflect certain standards, either those of society or those previously expressed. Mirrors possibly make people more aware of their values as a result of directing attention towards themselves. A possible effect on therapy Falling short of one s standards does not automatically produce discomfort: does the presence of the mirror increase awareness of self so that a fall in standards produces discomfort? Therapy often involves intimate disclosures of behaviour and thoughts that depart from how people believe they ought to behave. Mirrors may have an impact on this disclosure. People may seek to avoid the heightened awareness, induced by the mirror, of the discrepancy between their standards and their actual behaviour. Thus, mirrors may make it more difficult for people to discuss intimate and potentially unhappy or forbidden aspects of themselves.

Effects of the one-way mirror 77 Another experiment: mirrors and self disclosure Archer et al. (1979) asked subjects to disclose information about themselves to another person and a tape recorder.

3 Effects of the one-way mirror 77 Another experiment: mirrors and self disclosure Archer et al. (1979) asked subjects to disclose information about themselves to another person and a tape recorder. Subjects were divided into two groups: one was asked to disclose intimate matters and the other more superficial information. The groups were further divided according to whether or not the subject was face to face with a mirror during the self disclosure. The researchers hypothesis was that the combination of instructions to disclose intimate matters (usually associated with negative self descriptions) and mirror-heightened awareness of self would be the least comfortable; and, under those conditions, subjects would try hardest to avoid disclosure. The results, measured by how long it took subjects to begin disclosing, confirmed the prediction. At the end of the procedure, the subjects were asked how much they had enjoyed the self-description task. Those with the combination of potentially negative self disclosure and mirrors showed the most negative ratings. Again, it appears that the negative effect does stem from the presence and orientation of the mirrors. Discussion While the inhibiting effects of mirrors are clearly demonstrated in these experiments, none investigated how the effects of mirrors might wear with time. It could be that the effect gradually decreases and in the case of many sessions can be discounted. It may be that even during a single session its effects wear off. Until more research is done, there may be few implications for current work. However, it may be worth trying to have clients seated not directly facing the one-way mirror, but rather seated in way such that a it is not in their direct line of vision. The size of mirrors and whether smoked-glass screens are used may have differing impacts. Besides mirrors, playing back someone s tape-recorded voice, confronting people with a camera, placing people in unstructured or unfamiliar surroundings and giving people minority status have all been shown to increase self awareness (Wegner and Vallacher, 1980). These experiences, all of which may occur during therapy, have all been associated experimentally with changes people s in behaviour - changes compatible with their becoming more aware of discrepancies between standards and actual behaviour. It is possible that a Big Brother factor may account for a part of the

4 78 R. D. Persaud effect of one-way mirrors, because of microphones, cameras, lights etc. However, in the papers cited in Wegner and Vallacher s review, there does not seem to be a difference in the effects of one-way mirrors and simple mirrors without the possibility of surveillance (Wegner and Vallacher, 1980). Nonetheless, a Big Brother effect could change clients behaviour in family therapy sessions, making them more wary of their behaviour. How relevant are these well-established experimental effects of mirrors to family therapy? Sometimes, when clients are first presented with one-way mirrors, they seem more awkward and display a you won t catch me attitude. However, family members may quickly forget about the presence of mirrors as they become involved in family interaction. While research is undoubtedly needed to clarify the rble of mirror effects on family therapy, certain observations suggest that effects are indeed present. In family therapy sessions where families are facing the mirror, the therapist usually looks away from it. Why should this be, if the acknowledged purpose of one-way mirrors is to allow the clients interactions with each other and the therapist to be observed, along with allowing therapist supervision to take place? Why is the therapist so often placed in the position where it is most difficult to be observed? When asked whether clients object to the presence of one-way mirrors, the usual response is that, in fact, clients never object and that the issue is only ever raised by staff. Hence, it is not a client issue but a staff (or visitor) issue. Does this explain the seating? Finally, many one-way mirrors are accompanied by curtains which are kept drawn when the mirror is not in use. This suggests a degree of staff discomfort about the presence of mirrors. Where there is no curtain drawn across a mirror in a room used for a professional meeting, which seats fill first - those facing or those avoiding the reflected images? Conclusion That mirrors have impressive effects on experimental behaviour, inhibiting self-disclosure and spontaneity, raisestwo questions. Can research be done to find out if this effect is present in family therapy sessions where one-way mirrors are used? If the effect is present, are there ways of manipulating it? The possibility that mirrors affect therapy is not meant negatively. If these effects are indeed demonstrated, they may be susceptible to

5 Effects of the one-way mirror 79 exploitation for therapeutic benefit. Just because mirrors may induce special behaviour does not mean nothing can be learnt about people from observing such behaviour. More research is needed on the effect of one-way mirrors on family therapy, as the experimental work already done suggests the more that is found out and understood, the more there is to a one-way mirror than originally thought. Acknowledgement The presentation of a reading seminar during my medical student elective attachment to Hillend Adolescent Unit, St Albans, stimulated the production of this paper. References ARCHER, R. L., HORMUTH, S. E. ~ ~~BERG, J. H. (1979)Selfdisclosureunderconditions of self awareness. In: D. M. Wegner and R. R. Vallacher (Eds), The Selfin Social Psychology. Oxford. Oxford University Press (1980). BEARMAN, A. L., KLENTZ, B., DIENER, E. and SVANUM, S. (1979) Objective self awareness and transgression in children: a field study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37: CARVER, C. S. (1975) Physical aggression as a function of objective self awareness and attitudes toward punishment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 11: DIENER, E. and WALLBOM, M. (1976) Effects of self awareness on anti-normative behaviour. Journal of Research in Personality, 10: GIBBONS, F. X. (1978) Sexual standards and reactions to pornography: enhancing behavioural consistency through self-focused attention. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36: SCHEIER, M. F., FENICSTEIN, A. and Buss, A. H. (1974) Self awareness and physical aggression. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10: WEGNER D. M. and VALLACHER, R. R. (Eds)(1980) The Self in Social Psychology. Oxford. Oxford University Press. WICKLUND, R. A. and DUVAL, S. (1971) Opinion change and performance facilitation as a result of objective self awareness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 7:

Self-Consciousness and its Effects on Dissonance-Evoking Behavior

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