Does the sense of being stared at demonstrate anomalous perception?
Quick Summary
The sense of being stared at (SOBA) — the widespread experience of detecting when someone is looking at you from behind without sensory cues — has been tested in controlled behavioral trials accumulating over 30,000 trials and in CCTV/galvanic skin response studies.
The debate centers on whether the consistent above-chance hit rates (~54.7%) reflect genuine anomalous detection or accumulated response bias, demand characteristics, and the experimenter effect.
Current Consensus
SOBA has a large evidence base by parapsychological standards: tens of thousands of behavioral trials and a separately confirmed physiological signal (CCTV/GSR). The most serious methodological challenge is Schmidt's (2001) response-bias model, showing that a small bias toward guessing "looking" combined with genuine above-chance sensitivity produces a pattern statistically indistinguishable from true staring detection — the two interpretations cannot be separated without additional design controls. The experimenter effect (Schlitz vs. Wiseman) is the field's most documented anomaly: with identical protocols, the two experimenters consistently obtained opposite results. The 2006 follow-up found no effect for anyone, generally interpreted as supporting the artifact account. Sheldrake's Part 2 argues the phenomenon requires abandoning the intromission theory of vision in favor of extramission models, making SOBA a unique contact point between parapsychology and philosophy of perception.
Evidence Breakdown
Based on 12 papersSupporting Evidence
The Sense of Being Stared At, Part 1: Is It Real or Illusory?
Sheldrake (2005) -- Comprehensive review of 30,803 behavioral trials (54.7% vs. 50%, sign test p=1×10⁻²⁰), 15 CCTV/GSR studies (Schmidt et al. meta-analysis significant), and systematic artifact co...
The Sense of Being Stared At, Part 2: Its Implications for Theories of Vision
Sheldrake (2005) -- Theoretical implications: if SOBA is real, it requires an extramission model of vision in which looking projects outward influence; argues for a morphic-field-based extended min...
Can Morphic Fields Help Explain Telepathy and the Sense of Being Stared At?
Sheldrake (2019) -- Theoretical article proposing morphic fields as explanatory framework for SOBA and telepathy; synthesizes evidence from 30,803 stare detection trials, CCTV/GSR studies, and anim...
Consciousness Interactions with Remote Biological Systems: Anomalous Intentionality Effects
Braud & Schlitz (1991) -- Four remote attention experiments measuring electrodermal correlates of staring: all 4 real experiments significant (calming or activation during staring vs. non-staring e...
Distant intentionality and the feeling of being stared at: Two meta-analyses
Schmidt et al. (2004) -- Meta-analysis of 15 remote staring/CCTV studies using EDA: d = 0.13 (p = .01, 95% CI [0.03, 0.23]); homogeneous dataset but no study exceeded 71% overall quality, precludin...
The Sense of Being Stared At: A Preliminary Meta-Analysis
Radin (2005) -- Meta-analysis of 60 supervised conscious staring detection experiments (33,357 trials): FEM e = 0.089, p = 10^-232; 10 through-the-window studies without feedback homogeneous at p =...
Schmidt et al. (2019) -- Updated social DMILS meta-analysis extending the staring-detection evidence base
Schmidt et al. (2019) -- Updated social DMILS meta-analysis extending the staring-detection evidence base
Paper not yet added to catalog
Critical Evidence
Of Two Minds: Sceptic-Proponent Collaboration within Parapsychology
Schlitz, Wiseman, Watt & Radin (2006) -- Third and final collaborative study (2×2 cross-over, N=100) at IONS: neither greeter role (F=0.46, p=.50) nor sender role (F=0.21, p=.64) produced significa...
Experimenter Effects and the Remote Detection of Staring
Wiseman & Schlitz (1997) -- Skeptic-proponent joint study at University of Hertfordshire (N=32): Wiseman's receivers showed no stare/non-stare EDA difference (z=−0.44, p=0.64) while Schlitz's showe...
Fundamentally Misunderstanding Visual Perception: Adults’ Belief in Visual Emissions
Winer et al. (2002) -- Review documenting that 41–67% of college students affirm extramission beliefs (that vision involves emissions from the eyes), with rates up to 86% on drawing tasks; beliefs ...
*[Marks & Colwell (2000) — "The psychic staring effect: An artifact of pseudo randomization" — primary skeptical critique arguing results arise from counterbalanced trial sequences; not yet in libr...
*[Marks & Colwell (2000) — "The psychic staring effect: An artifact of pseudo randomization" — primary skeptical critique arguing results arise from counterbalanced trial sequences; not yet in libr...
Paper not yet added to catalog
*[Colwell et al. (2000) — "The ability to detect unseen staring" — skeptic-initiated Middlesex University study that found significant positive results, then attributed them to randomization artifa...
*[Colwell et al. (2000) — "The ability to detect unseen staring" — skeptic-initiated Middlesex University study that found significant positive results, then attributed them to randomization artifa...
Paper not yet added to catalog