Interesting Study

[lex24]

Im reading a book by a moral psychologist- Jonathan Haidt. It’s called “The Happiness Hypothesis;  finding modern truths in ancient wisdom.” So far very interesting read.

Wanted to share a study that he discusses by a psychologist – Dan Batson. Pretty simple: there are two partners they are in separate rooms. One of the partners is told that he or she will get raffle tickets for questions that are rightly answered that can be used  in a drawing for prizes. The person who gets the ticket has to decide whether to keep it or to give it to his/her partner – who will not know anything about the tickets.   They are told they can make the decision as to who gets the ticket between them and their partner in any manner they want – but are given a coin and told the fairest way is to flip the coin.

Of those who did not flip the coin – 90% kept the tickets for themselves. Of those who did use the coin (it was encased in plastic so it had to be ripped open in order to be used) 90% also kept the tickets for themselves.  Obviously defying the law of averages.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Before the experiment, Bateson had given questionnaires to everybody designed to elicit  their levels of concern about issues relating to social responsibility and fairness. Those people who answered in a manner that showed them to be more socially responsible were more likely to open the  plastic to use the coin. But they then ignored the result went it went against them.

Proving once again – talk is cheap…..

 

[Legend]

Haven’t seen that one but it’s not at all surprising. Reminds me of the studies in charitable giving that compare republicans to democrats. Republicans give substantially more of their income than Dems. I guess the Dems view paying their taxes as giving.

the only test for what people will really do is to give them the cover of anonymity. The internet proves every day how depraved people are when they can’t be identified.

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Sic transit gloria mundi (so shut up and get back to work)

[Author]

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