THE DOOR HOLDING EXPERIMENT: A SOCIAL STUDY ON POLITENESS

This is not a ground-breaking study!

Abstract

Door-holding is one of those tiny social gestures we don’t think much about—until we do it, and suddenly, we wonder if people actually appreciate it. This study set out to track how often people acknowledge the courtesy of a held door, what responses they give, and whether patterns emerge based on location, time of day, or gender.

Over the course of one week (minus one missed day), I held doors open at three workplace locations: the main entrance, the library entrance, and the car park door. Across 26 recorded interactions, people responded in various ways—some verbal, some non-verbal, and some… nothing at all.

Findings suggest that while most people acknowledge door-holding in some form, a notable percentage do not—especially in the mornings. The study also highlighted an unexpected side effect: awkward social moments where both parties hesitate on who should walk first.

Introduction

Holding the door open for someone seems like a universal good—simple, polite, and appreciated, right? But does everyone say “thank you”? Or do some people just breeze through like the door opened by magic?

The idea for this study came after a particularly good day when three different people held the door open for me at different times. It was such a small thing, but it actually made my day a little brighter. That got me thinking—how often do people acknowledge these small acts of kindness? And do I notice door-holding more when I’m the one benefiting from it versus when I’m the one doing it? Naturally, the only way to find out was to run an experiment.

Do people still acknowledge small gestures of kindness? And if they do, what exactly do they say (or not say)?

Based on personal experience, I expected:

• Most people would acknowledge the gesture, but some wouldn’t.
• Mornings might have lower thank-you rates because people are in a rush.
• Women might acknowledge it more often than men.
• People might sometimes make it weird (spoiler: they did).

Methods

Study Design & Setting

This was a one-week observational study at my workplace, where I tracked responses to door-holding at three key locations:

• Main Entrance (High traffic)
• Library Entrance (More academic setting)
• Car Park Door (People arriving/departing work)

Exclusion Criteria

• Doors requiring key card access (doesn’t feel right).
• Accidental door-holding (if I was already passing through).

Data Collection

I stood near each door at two time slots—morning rush (8:00–9:00 AM) and lunch break (12:00–1:00 PM)—for a maximum of 10 minutes per session.

Each time, I held the door open for anyone approaching within 3 seconds and noted their reaction. I did not hold the door open when multiple people were coming in or leaving at a time.

Sampling may have been purposive. I targeted lone walkers with zero or one person behind them and I did try (really tried) not to be biased by holding the door open for elderly ones as compared to the younger ones.

What I Measured

Each person’s response was categorized as:

1. Nothing at all – Walked through silently.
2. Cheers! – Casual acknowledgment.
3. Thanks/Thank You! – Direct gratitude.
4. Polite Non-Verbal – Smile, nod.
5. Conversation Starter – Used the door-holding moment to make small talk.
6. Reverse Courtesy – Insisted I go first.

Results

A total of 26 interactions were recorded (Thursday was skipped because… life and I could only hang around the doors in the mornings on the Tuesday).

• 8 people at the Car Park Door
• 12 at the Main Entrance
• 6 at the Library Entrance
• 15 women, 11 men
• Age Range: Mid-20s to ~80 years old
• No children encountered

Breakdown of Responses

Response Type	Count	Notes
Nothing at all	3	All in the morning (no surprise there)
Cheers!	8	More common among men
Thanks/Thank You!	6	Evenly split across time and location
Polite Non-Verbal (Smile/Nod)	4	Usually paired with eye contact
Conversation Starter	3	One person talked about the weather, the other about being late for work
Reverse Courtesy (Insisted I go first)	2	Unexpected but sweet

Discussion

So, what did I learn from holding doors for a week?

Conclusion

Most people do acknowledge a held door, but a small percentage (especially in the morning) just walk right through. Casual responses like “Cheers” were more common than direct gratitude, and some people turned the situation into a conversation.

While this started as a fun experiment, it also highlighted an awkward social quirk—if the person lingers after you open the door, you’re suddenly obligated to walk together for a bit. Which, if you were just doing this for science, feels a bit weird. 😆

Would I do this again? Maybe. I might take it a step further by changing variables—for example, what if I dramatically stepped aside with a grand gesture while holding the door? Would people feel more compelled to acknowledge it? Or what if I pretended to be distracted (on my phone, looking away) while holding the door—would that reduce responses? Another interesting angle would be testing this in different environments — church, a shopping mall, or even a pub! Do social settings influence politeness? And for the ultimate twist, I could try holding the door from an awkwardly far distance to see at what point gratitude turns into confusion. Clearly, this is just the beginning of the great door-holding data adventure! The world of door-holding has more mysteries left to uncover!

TL;DR Version

I held doors open for 26 people at work to see if they’d say “thank you.”

• 3 people said nothing. (All in the morning—figures.)
• 8 people said “Cheers.“
• 6 said “Thank you.”
• 4 nodded/smiled instead of speaking.
• 3 used it as a chance to chat.
• 2 insisted I walk in first, making it awkward.

Takeaways?

• Morning people are the least polite.
• “Cheers” is more popular than “Thanks.”
• Sometimes door-holding turns into a weird social standoff.

Overall, a fun experiment—until I had to actually walk somewhere I didn’t intend to! 😂