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Why people are more honest than we think
A few years ago, research assistants “found” 400 wallets in public buildings – banks, theatres, hotels, police stations, post offices and courts – in eight Indian cities.
- Soutik Biswas
- BBC
They handed them in to the security guards and receptionists after claiming to have stumbled upon them, before quickly leaving.
Some of the wallets had no money; others had 230 rupees ($3.30; £2.60) in cash. Each wallet contained three identical business cards, with the owner’s name and email address, a grocery list and a key.
A team of researchers posing as the owners of the wallets then waited to be…