American psychologist Alain Cohn of the University of Michigan in America a year ago wondered about the integrity of people. The scientist, along with colleagues, conducted an unusual experiment, the results of which were recently published in the popular science publication Science. Studies were conducted in parallel in 40 countries, which eliminates the coincidence regarding the honesty of citizens.
The essence of the experiment
The psychology of personality can be studied with a simple but effective example. For example, a dummy wallet. It was used by US scientists as a means of experiment.
To test how honest people are in 40 countries, it took 17,000 “dummy” wallets. They were slightly different in appearance, but most importantly, inside the accessories there was a limited number of notes. Alain Kohl suggested 3 options for the contents of wallets:
- Without money. It contained only discount coupons, "data" about the owner and other information that did not have material value.
- With 13 dollars.
- With 100 dollars.
Different contents are part of the scientists’s plan. With the help of such a trick, one could check not only honesty, but also how exactly the availability of funds in the wallet affects the psychology of the person.
Honesty test
Empty wallets and those that were with US dollar bills were put in crowded places so that residents of different countries accurately drew attention to them. The results of the experiment were pleasant but unexpected.
According to the study, a person is more inclined to commit honest deeds. This was proved by the following fact: most of the purses found were not "pocketed". The lucky ones took the find to the police, a restaurant, a bank or another place of mass crowding in the hope that its owner would be found.
What was surprising was that the hastiest part was in a hurry to leave with a wallet full of money - a 100-dollar bill. More than 72% of people honestly gave their wallet, and did not appropriate the contents to themselves. The wallet, in which there were 13 dollars, was given away by more than 64% of those who found it. Oddly enough, only 46% of the experiment participants brought an empty wallet.
A survey of some participants who voluntarily “handed over” the find to the police showed that most of all the citizens were afraid to find themselves in a situation where they would be accused of stealing the funds found. Therefore, they acted in good faith, giving away the wallet they found, despite the presence of money inside.