One in three homeowners admit they regularly 'spy' on their neighbours, it emerged yesterday.
And nearly half say they peek from behind the curtains whenever they hear 'goings-on' in their street。
Almost 50 per cent of people surveyed said they could recite the times their neighbours leave and return from work and spot a new car immediately, with a fifth noticing if a stranger visits。
Noticing parcels being delivered, if a couple argue more than normal or even when the online shopping comes, were other common aspects people knew about those living close by。
But one in ten admit they had been caught peering through the windows by their neighbour。
The study of 2,000 adults – commissioned by Yale as part of National Home Security Month – found that the most common reason given for keeping tabs on the neighbours was 'to check they are all right'。
For neighbours even the intimacy of a relationship is common knowledge - over a quarter knew a neighbouring couple were having real troubles and one in ten even know a neighbour currently having an affair。
Nigel Fisher, from Yale, lead sponsor of National Home Security Month, said: 'This shows just how closely the people who live next to us are watching and the things that don't go unnoticed。
'However, the results show that where people did admit to keeping tabs on a neighbour it was usually with good intentions of making sure everything's alright.'
The study also saw a quarter of people confess to spying on the neighbours at least once a week。
据英国《每日邮报》报道，有1/3的屋主都承认自己会定期“监视”邻居。
更有近半数的人说自己只要听到街上有“骚动”就会躲在窗帘后面偷窥外面的情况。
受访的人中几乎一半表示他们能背出邻居出门和回家的时间并能一眼看出来邻居是否换了新车，有1/5的受访者表示能察觉到邻居家有陌生人来访。
这还不算什么，谁签收了包裹，隔壁夫妻俩是不是吵得更厉害了，甚至于别人网上买的东西什么时候到这种邻居家的琐事，我们都一清二楚。
但是，有1/10的受访者承认自己曾被邻居抓到过在窗户边儿偷看。
这项对2000名成人的调查由耶鲁大学委托进行，是美国全国家庭安全月(National Home Security Month)的活动项目之一。调查发现，当被问到为什么要密切关注邻居的动向时，大家说得最多的理由就是“只是为了看看他们是不是一切都好”。
了解邻居的婚恋关系甚至也是小菜一碟儿——超过1/4的受访者称自己知道隔壁夫妻俩出现了感情危机，1/10的人甚至还知道邻居有外遇。
耶鲁大学的尼格·费希尔(Nigel Fisher)是全国家庭安全月的主要赞助商，他说：“由此可见邻居把我们看得有多紧，几乎没有什么能逃过他们的眼睛。”
“然而，调查结果显示，大家承认会密切关注邻居，但通常都是出于好心想确认对方一切都好。”
调查中一半人坦言自己会“监视”邻居且至少一周一次。
