Tech & Biz

Baby Pictures Prompt Lost Wallet Returns

by Jordan Yerman | July 13, 2009 at 10:21 am

381 views | 58 Recommendations | 4 comments

According to researches in Edinburgh, Scotland, wallets with baby pictures are more likely to be returned to their owners than wallets with no pictures.

If you have no baby, don't dispair: puppy pictures sparked honesty in those who found the experimental wallets, as well.

The explanation lies in evolution: seeing the picture of the baby would trigger the urge to protect it, which does an end-run around things like greed. The same dynamic affected wallet-finders who opened the wallets to see a cuddly, cuddly puppy.

What I'd like to see is the effect of wallets containing pictures of king cobras versus a group of control wallets.

Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist who supervised the experiment, said 42 per cent of the wallets were posted back in total.

Those containing the picture of the infant were most likely to trigger an honest reaction from the finder, with 88 per cent being returned, followed by those containing pictures of the puppy at 53 per cent.

The wallets were planted at random about a quarter of a mile apart. Snapshots were inserted into a clear plastic window inside the wallets, none of which contained money.

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sara star

at 10:39 on July 13th, 2009

Thanks for the tip.

Paschen

at 12:27 on July 13th, 2009

Hum, People do have a conscience after all? I wonder how this would work with money in the wallet.

In Japan people returned envelops with over a million Yen in them (about $9000.00) LEft in several public bath rooms.

dysamoria

at 21:55 on July 13th, 2009

that's a really cute statistic. it is an interesting socioanthropological(?) element of human beings. thanks for posting this, Jordan. it's encouraging to hear nice things about humanity.

pictures

at 19:27 on July 28th, 2009

Let's be honest it's just plain hard to resist a cute baby picture. I think this story speaks to the good nature in most individuals for sure. Note to self... put more baby pictures in wallet and throw in a puppy for good measure.