Through the lens of the camera: Can hostile intent be identified by the observation of deviant behavior?

An experiment was conducted to identify deviant behavior of persons with a hostile intent. Participants with and without hostile intent each carried a supposed illegal (or not) package past a police officer who delivered a signal. The signals intention was to deliver cognitive strain to the participants, resulting in deviant behavior of persons with a hostile intent. The police agent either used a strong (clearly aimed at the participants) or a weak (not directed at the participants) signal to elicit behavioral responses. Results indicate a weak stimulus can influence both people with and without hostile intent in terms of observed fidgeting. Further can strong stimulus elicit emotions as smiling and laughing by people with a hostile intent. The conduction of the study was in parts flawed by a low agreement between the different observers, questioning some results. Implications and annotation are included at the end.