When was the last time you saw a “Wet Paint” sign? How did you responded to it? I suspect that most of us, upon seeing such a sign, feel a strange compulsion to touch the the surface, just to see if it really is wet, or if it still is wet. We may not actually touch it, but the desire is there, isn’t it?
This is known as “WET PAINT SYNDROME”
“Wet Paint Syndrome” is a colloquial expression that refers to the human impulse to disobey direct warnings. It is derived from the observed behavior that many people are more likely to touch a wall with a WET PAINT sign than a wall with no sign at all.
JD Thompson Wrote an article that goes through the physhe of people with wet paint syndrome. You can see it here
You would think that children would be the main offended but in my 40 years of painting I firmly believe that adults are the major offenders. this may be due to the fact that in most work place s there are a myriad of signs. This could tend to make people a little blind to the fact that the signs are around to protect them.