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Want to Keep Your Wallet? Carry a Baby Picture
Whatdo people do when they find a wallet on the street? Leave it? Take it
to a police station? Post it back to the owner? Keep it, even? The answer, scientists have found, depends rather more on evolution than morality.Hundreds of wallets were planted on the streets of Edinburgh by
psychologists last year. One of four photographs was inserted behind a
clear plastic window in each of the wallets, showing either a smiling
baby, a cute puppy, a happy family or a contented elderly couple. Some
wallets had no image and some had charity papers inside.
When faced with the photograph of the baby people were far more
likely to send the wallet back, the study found. The baby photograph
wallets had the highest return rate, with 88 percent being sent back.
Next came the puppy, the family and the elderly couple, with 53, 48 and
28 percent respectively. At 20 and 15 percent, the charity card and
control wallets had the lowest return rates. Scientists argue that it would be difficult to genetically code for
feeling empathy exclusively towards your own child, and much easier to
code for feeling empathy towards all children.
Sources:
Times Online July 11, 2009
Related Links:
Carry Out Random Acts of Kindness Every Day
Avoid Identity Theft: Ten Preventative Measures
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/07/28/Want-to-Keep-Your-Wallet-Carry-a-Baby-Picture.aspx