Honesty is majority policy in lost wallet experiment (1 Viewer)

[Pod]

Public more likely to return wallet containing larger sum of money, global study finds

EXCEPT......

"There were some surprising non-returns: wallets dropped off at the Vatican and at two anti-corruption bureaus were among those that never made their way back to the rightful owners. "

Oooh that made me laugh. Surprised? Not!

Honesty is majority policy in lost wallet experiment

Public more likely to return wallet containing larger sum of money, global study finds

www.theguardian.com

 

[Linda]

Now that was an interesting study. I did my own thought experiment. I do need some cash to get some repairs done. Also, if I see someone drop something, I always take it to them - even a shopping list.

What if I found an old paper bag in the woods with a bunch of money in it - found a roll of bills in a public place - found a wallet with a load of cash? It is an interesting question, and I get the idea of a person not being able to consider themselves a thief. One of the aspects for me is where might the money be turned in. If it was a direct return to the owner, I'm on board. If it involves turning plain cash into some kind of authority - well, lately my opinions of some of fellow travelers on this planet has dropped quite low. So - that one might cause me to think twice.

It might be assumed that the findings, published in the journal Science, point to heartening levels of altruism in society, but the economists were aware of a substantial body of previous work showing that while people do care about others, they generally care more about themselves.​

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Instead, the researchers concluded, the main motivation was an aversion to viewing oneself as a thief. “People want to see themselves as an honest person, not as a thief. Keeping a found wallet means having to adapt one’s self-image, which comes with psychological costs,” said Michel Maréchal, a professor of economics at the University of Zurich and a co-author. “The psychological forces … can be stronger than the financial ones.”​

 

[Lila]

Instead, the researchers concluded, the main motivation was an aversion to viewing oneself as a thief.

Does this mean that at the Vatican and the two anti-corruption bureaus where the non-returns occurred happened because the wallet encountered someone who already viewed themselves as a thief?

 

[Pod]

Does this mean that at the Vatican and the two anti-corruption bureaus where the non-returns occurred happened because the wallet encountered someone who already viewed themselves as a thief?

Yes Lila.....ins't it hysterically funny! We always knew!

 

[Sinera]

They should test this in lobby halls of political parliaments or of political party headquarter offices.

 

[Pod]

“The psychological forces … can be stronger than the financial ones.”

When I was volunteering at the station gardens, I found a wallet stuffed with Euros which had clearly been dropped or left when someone had sat down on the wall for a cigarette. I only found it because I was checking the plants.

I could see that the money was wrapped around a debit card with a girls name on it, although the wallet was a man's. I handed the wallet in at the station and found the girl on Facebook, letting her know what had happened.

The next day, I was approached by a man who was very grateful. The wallet was his but as he worked in a travel agency, his daughter had asked him to get her holiday cash which was why he had her debit card. If I had not handed the wallet in, her holiday would have been cancelled.

So not only did I save a holiday, I think I saved a terrible argument between father and daughter and I re-established a sense of faith in human nature in the father. I am not going to give up on that for materialism.

 

[Linda]

Just heard this today - some guys working on the highway found a baggie of cash and turned it in - it belonged to a man who runs a homeless shelter.

 

[Alain]

Now that was an interesting study. I did my own thought experiment. I do need some cash to get some repairs done. Also, if I see someone drop something, I always take it to them - even a shopping list.

What if I found an old paper bag in the woods with a bunch of money in it - found a roll of bills in a public place - found a wallet with a load of cash? It is an interesting question, and I get the idea of a person not being able to consider themselves a thief. One of the aspects for me is where might the money be turned in. If it was a direct return to the owner, I'm on board. If it involves turning plain cash into some kind of authority - well, lately my opinions of some of fellow travelers on this planet has dropped quite low. So - that one might cause me to think twice.

It might be assumed that the findings, published in the journal Science, point to heartening levels of altruism in society, but the economists were aware of a substantial body of previous work showing that while people do care about others, they generally care more about themselves.​

​

Instead, the researchers concluded, the main motivation was an aversion to viewing oneself as a thief. “People want to see themselves as an honest person, not as a thief. Keeping a found wallet means having to adapt one’s self-image, which comes with psychological costs,” said Michel Maréchal, a professor of economics at the University of Zurich and a co-author. “The psychological forces … can be stronger than the financial ones.”​

return cash to the person is what is the most logic for me, when it is via a third person scepsis as with the foundations for africa and so it arrives in very little where it should

so a case of personal experience

i was in the car check "contrôle technique" to pass a clients car ( was a thing i did for 18 mounth before the big client quit the boad to my bad luck) i had to go to the toilet and found the person before me forgot his purse, good 5cm thick. I tried directly to ask at one of the "contrôle technique" if someone reported a lost purse, and at that moment the person arrived and was so gratefull that there still exists honest persons.

if it hadn t turned out so, the other way had been to see if personal informations were found and to contact the person. sure not in all the cases the right choice in a quite criminel world

 

[Pod]

if it hadn t turned out so, the other way had been to see if personal informations were found and to contact the person. sure not in all the cases the right choice in a quite criminel world

Yes good post, excellent points Alain!

In the EU now, if you found a bag of money you would not be able to put it in the bank or buy anything major like a car because you would have to prove the source of the funds. So you could only keep it at home and spend a little bit at a time. That would be nice, use it for groceries forever!