In physics, Erwin Schrödinger’s famous cat highlights the power of observation. The observer effect pops up in many scientific fields. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers.” - Isaac Asimov The observer effect in science

People are invariably affected by observation.

So, before you judge someone’s behavior, it’s worth asking if they are changing because you are looking at them, or if their behavior is natural. But both things and people can change under observation. The moon continues to orbit whether we have a telescope pointed at it or not. Are you ever on your best behavior when you’re alone in your house? To get better at understanding other people, we need to consider the observer effect: observing things changes them, and some phenomena only exist when observed. But the truth is, we all change how we act when we expect to be seen. We see what they are doing as representative of their whole life. We often forget to factor in the distortion of observation when we evaluate someone’s behavior. Here’s how the observer effect distorts our world and how we can get a more accurate picture. The act of looking at something changes it – an effect that holds true for people, animals, even atoms.

Actor observer bias psychology example