Honesty Test Results Revealed
100 wallets were deliberately dropped in front of hidden cameras to test honesty.
View as PDF
 Print View
January 20, 2007 (FPRC) -- The results of a sociological experiment testing human honesty have been made public by the webmaster of http://www.WalletTest.com
Data was collected with the help of hidden cameras that recorded 100 random people in public places picking up 'lost' wallets that were planted there for them to find.
The purpose of the experiment (conducted in the city of Belleville, Illinois) was to see who would be honest and return the wallets and who would be dishonest and keep them. Visitors to the website can view short films of all 100 wallet pickers and even listen to recorded phone conversations of the people who tried to redeem the fake gift certificates that were planted in the wallets.
One of the more controversial aspects of the experiment is that the results were broken down into categories such as gender, age and race. Differences between these groups are shown, in detail, on the websites results page.
What was in the wallets?
- $2.10 in real money
- a fake $50.00 gift certificate
- A clearly written ID card with the
name, address and phone number
of the wallet's owner.
- Plus a few miscellaneous items
How honest were people?
Of the 100 wallets -
74 were returned
26 were stolen.
How did women compare to men?
The men who were tested were over twice as likely to steal the lost wallets then the women who were tested.
How did young people compare to older people?
The young people tested were over twice as likely to steal the wallets then the middle-aged people tested and over three times as likely to steal the wallets then old people who were tested.
Detailed test results can be found at:
http://www.wallettest.com/Lost_Wallet_Test/Results_Page.html
Send an email to Paul Kinsella of WalletTest.com
(618)475-2852
Keywords:
wallets, honesty, test
| 
