Would you pass the wallet test?

翻译人员: wendy wu 校对人员: Yuwei Wu

Picture this: you’re working a slow shift in a hotel lobby

想象一下：你在酒店大堂无聊得值班

when someone hurriedly approaches the front desk.

突然有人匆忙的来到前台。

They found a lost wallet around the corner,

他在角落见到了一个钱包，

but they’re in a rush and don’t have time to follow up.

但他在赶时间，没办法跟进，

They ask if you can handle it and then run off.

他请你处理这件事并迅速跑走。

Looking at the wallet you see it contains a key, a grocery list, about $13,

当查看时，你发现钱包里有 一把钥匙，一张购物清单，

and three business cards with a name and email

大概 13 美元的现金， 以及三张写有姓名及邮箱的名片

you assume belong to the wallet’s owner.

你猜测这些名片是钱包主人的。

So, what do you do?

那么你会怎么做呢？

Between 2013 and 2016,

在 2013 至 2016 年期间，

over 17,000 front-desk workers around the globe

全球超过 17000 名前台工作人员

were faced with this choice,

都面临着这个选择，

becoming unwitting participants in a massive study of honesty.

他们都是一场大规模 关于诚信的研究

不知情的参与者。

And the results surprised top economists and the researchers

测试结果却令进行实验的

running the experiment.

资深的经济学家 及研究者感到惊讶。

But to understand what these groups were expecting,

为了了解对实验的期望，

we need to spend a little time defining honesty.

我们需要花点时间 明白诚信的定义。

We typically think of honesty in terms of actively telling the truth

一般来讲，我们认为诚信 是在人与人关系中

in our interpersonal relationships.

积极的讲述真相。

But in fact, every healthy society relies on a shared foundation of honesty.

但事实上，健康的社会取决于 享有稳固的诚信基础。

Using public services, making business transactions,

使用公共服务，进行商业转账，

and deciding government policies

以及政府政策的决策

requires a baseline expectation of honesty from our fellow citizens.

都要求我们的市民 对诚信有基线预期。

Because of this, understanding what drives honesty

由此，推动诚信的来源

is a vital research subject

对于经济学家，心理学家及社会学家来讲

for economists, psychologists, and sociologists.

是一项重要的研究对象。

Unfortunately, honesty can be difficult to investigate

不巧的是当人们意识到 自己是在被观察时

when people know they’re being watched.

研究者很难去探寻真实的诚信行为。

So, researchers have come up with clever ways to analyze

所以研究人员想到了一种聪明的方式

this behavior outside the lab.

在实验室外分析诚信的行为。

And this global study by the universities of Michigan, Utah, and Zurich

这个由密歇根，犹他 及苏黎世的大学做的研究

sought to answer an important question:

希望找到 一个重要问题的答案：

will people engage in opportunistic behavior

当人们面临被抓风险几乎为零的情况

when there’s little-to-no chance of being caught?

人们会选择投机行为吗？

In what became known as the Lost Wallet Test,

这场测试名为丢失钱包测试，

13 research assistants traveled to 355 cities in 40 different countries,

在 40 个不同的国家 355 个城市中，

recreating the same scenario in hotels, banks, public offices,

13 名研究助理在旅店， 银行以及公共办公室以及

and various cultural establishments.

不同文化机构中， 重现了同样的场景。

The clear wallets ensured participants could see their contents,

透明的钱包确保 参与者能够看清里面的内容，

half of which contained a key, grocery list, and business cards,

一半钱包都放有 一把钥匙，购物清单以及名片，

while the other half also included the equivalent of roughly 13 US dollars.

另外一半的钱包里同时还有 大概价值 13 美元的现金。

The researchers believed the money would discourage honesty.

学者认为金钱会阻碍诚信。

Specifically, they thought participants’ self-interest would overpower

具体来讲，他们认为 参与者的自身利益

two competing factors:

将击败另外两个竞争因素：

their altruistic desire not to harm the wallet’s owner,

他们不希望 伤害钱包主人的利他心理，

and their desire to maintain a positive self-image.

以及他们维持积极的 自身形象的期望。

Regarding self-image, we generally like to think of ourselves as good and honest.

我们大多希望自己拥有 优秀并诚实的形象。

But studies have found people are often able to let themselves off the hook

但是研究显示人们经常会 因为小额现金的利益

for stealing small amounts of money.

而脱离维持良好的形象。

As for harming the wallet's owner,

至于伤害钱包主人，

the victim of their crime would be abstract.

由于犯罪的受害人是抽象的。

They'd never met this person, and since the wallet had come from another location,

参与者并不认识钱包主人， 而钱包是从其他地方得来的，

it seemed unlikely they ever would.

他们大概率永远不会见到钱包主人。

For these reasons, researchers expected money-filled wallets

基于以上的这些原因， 学者认为装有现金的钱包

to be reported less often,

报告挂失的几率会更小，

and the 279 economists they surveyed agreed.

279 名参与调查的经济学家 也同意此观点。

But to their surprise, the study found the exact opposite.

但出乎意料的， 研究结果竟截然相反。

While only 46% of cash-free wallets were reported,

有 46% 没有装有现金的 钱包报告了挂失，

61% of cash wallets were called in.

而装有现金的钱包有 61% 报告挂失。

This pattern held true across the globe,

在全球的调查中，

regardless of the participants’ age, gender,

不论参与者的年龄，性别， 无论他们在拿到钱包时

or whether they were being observed during the wallet drop-off.

是否被他人观察 结果都符合同样的规律。

And when researchers tried increasing the temptation to be dishonest

当学者试图用改变钱包中 现金数额至 100 美元

with wallets containing nearly $100,

来增加不诚信的诱惑

the results surprised them again.

结果又一次让他们惊讶了。

People reported 72% of these big money wallets.

72% 拿到有大额现金钱包的人 选择报告挂失。

There are a lot of theories for why honesty goes up

有许多不同的理论分析 为什么当钱包更值钱时

as the wallet becomes more valuable.

人们诚信的几率增加了。

The $100 wallet certainly increases self-interest.

100 美元必然增加了个人利益。

But in international follow-up surveys,

但是在国际跟进的问卷调查中显示，

people reported that taking larger sums of money felt more like theft,

人们觉得持有别人 更大数额钱包时更像是盗窃，

making it harder to maintain a positive self-image.

这使人们更难维持良好的自身形象。

It’s also possible that when the financial stakes are higher,

另一种可能是当经济持有量变高时，

so is the perceived harm to the wallet’s owner.

对钱包主人造成的伤害也同样变高。

Others have suggested that our commitment to honesty could be altered

还有人认为我们在专业环境下

in professional settings,

对于诚信的投入程度有所不同，

meaning participants might have acted differently outside the office.

参与者在办公室外表现 或许会不一样。

Still, this result suggests that self-interest

即便如此，测试结果显示了

might not be as powerful as we often think.

自身利益或许没有 我们想象的那么强大。

Seeing yourself as an honest person can motivate you to be an honest person.

认为自己是个诚实的人或许会 激发你诚信的品格。

And by modeling this behavior and celebrating it and others,

当我们塑造诚信的行为 并与其他人一同施行，

we can help create an honest society we can all rely on.

我们将建造一个 可以信赖依靠的诚信的社会。