Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda? • Hacker News Board

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#11

Post by GavinB » Sat, Apr 12, 2008, 6:09 PM UTC

zeraholladay wrote: post #2

Question: "Even though the value was comparable [cans of sodas and a dollar] --and thus the situations were supposed to be equivalent--people responded in opposite ways. Why is that?" Answer: Sane people leave six packs of sodas in refrigerators so the sodas get cold and in case those with access to the refrigerator get thirsty. The old idiom applies: treat others as you would want to be treated. Dollar bills general…

You're correct in that the dollars are out of place while the soda cans are not.

A better experiment might be this: Leave the door to a locker open, with a few items of clothing to show that it belongs to someone. In one version leave an open jar of candy. In the other, an open jar of quarters.

I suspect that some of the candy would disappear while far fewer of the quarters would go.

Of course, the reason for that is that the candy is much more tempting than the quarters, though less that 25 cents per piece.

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#12

Post by bprater » Sat, Apr 12, 2008, 6:33 PM UTC

I bought the book this week. It's a juicy compelling read if you are interested in psychology and marketing.

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#13

Post by thingsilearned » Sat, Apr 12, 2008, 6:33 PM UTC

I just finished and recommend a very interesting book on this kind of thing. It's called

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. By Robert B. Cialdini

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#14

Post by sounddust » Sat, Apr 12, 2008, 6:40 PM UTC

dgabriel wrote: post #8

bouncingsoul wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't plates of food carry implicit permission? One person wouldn't bring a plate full of brownies if she intended it only for herself. And if she did she would make a note saying so.

Ok, here's another example. Only a few people I know, a small handful, have had roommates take money from them. However, virtually everyone I know has had a roommate take food from them (or has taken food from a roommate) without permission.

But the problem is still the same. The statement that "people have an irrational sense of logic because they would take food from a roommate, but not money" is still incorrect.

Of the 15 or so roommates I've had in my life, 13 or 14 would have almost always answered "yes" to the question "hey, can I take XXX from the fridge and eat it." Whereas fewer of them would have answered the same if I had asked for money. Therefore, the decision to take something from another person is heavily influenced by the anticipated response of that person (and therefore not as illogical as the researcher is concluding).

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#15

Post by aneesh » Sat, Apr 12, 2008, 6:51 PM UTC

The values are not always equivalent. When you're really thirsty, a can of soda is worth more than a buck.

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#16

Post by dgabriel » Sat, Apr 12, 2008, 7:14 PM UTC

sounddust wrote: post #14

dgabriel wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, here's another example. Only a few people I know, a small handful, have had roommates take money from them. However, virtually everyone I know has had a roommate take food from them (or has taken food from a roommate) without permission.

But the problem is still the same. The statement that "people have an irrational sense of logic because they would take food from a roommate, but not money" is still incorrect. Of the 15 or so roommates I've had in my life, 13 or 14 would have almost always answered "yes" to the question "hey, can I take XXX from the fridge and eat it." Whereas fewer of them would have answered the same if I had asked for money. Ther…

Would your roommates refuse to lend you 5 dollars? If not, why is it wrong to take the 5 dollars from his desk, or take money he left in a common area? Under your reasoning it would perfectly fine, common, even.

"I'm sure he won't mind if I just take a few dollars," seems more wrong than "I'm sure he won't mind if I drink one of his fancy beers/soymilk smoothies/etc".

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#17

Post by bouncingsoul » Sat, Apr 12, 2008, 8:23 PM UTC

warwick wrote: post #9

bouncingsoul wrote: post #6

But then he tried another variation: Before doing the test, he asked one group of subjects to name 10 books they had read in high school. He asked another group to name as many of the Ten Commandments as they could remember. The group that listed the books followed the same pattern as the earlier test – they all cheated a little. But the group that named the commandments was different: Nobody cheated at all! "Just th…

I found that section confusing too. I think it's just the result of a bit of bad writing though. After rereading it, I'd guess they had subjects list books or commandments and then take the addition test.

I think you're right.

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#18

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Apr 12, 2008, 8:24 PM UTC

bouncingsoul wrote: post #6

But then he tried another variation: Before doing the test, he asked one group of subjects to name 10 books they had read in high school. He asked another group to name as many of the Ten Commandments as they could remember. The group that listed the books followed the same pattern as the earlier test – they all cheated a little. But the group that named the commandments was different: Nobody cheated at all! "Just th…

[deleted]

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#19

Post by ChaitanyaSai » Sat, Apr 12, 2008, 10:01 PM UTC

Dan Ariely, the researcher behind this, has done a lot of seriously cool work on human behavior (People call it behavioral economics, which makes it sound rather academic or wonkish). http://web.mit.edu/ariely/www/MIT/chapters.shtml

This somewhat personal essay is worth reading for many reasons: http://web.mit.edu/ariely/www/MIT/Papers/mypain.pdf

Re: Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

#20

Post by rumblerob » Sun, Apr 13, 2008, 4:18 AM UTC

chaostheory wrote: post #4

zeraholladay wrote: post #2

Question: "Even though the value was comparable [cans of sodas and a dollar] --and thus the situations were supposed to be equivalent--people responded in opposite ways. Why is that?" Answer: Sane people leave six packs of sodas in refrigerators so the sodas get cold and in case those with access to the refrigerator get thirsty. The old idiom applies: treat others as you would want to be treated. Dollar bills general…

you're right - I forgot that even name brand soda bought in 12 packs or more cost much less than a dollar per can (I think it's less than 50 cents for a 12 pack in cali) Still I feel that if they modified their experiment to have quarters instead of dollar bills (or upgraded the cans to mini-bottles while keeping the dollars), it may have had the same result

Even if cans were worth a dollar apiece, six dollars would be worth much more than a 6-pack. Cash is considerably more liquid -- you can't walk into J.C. Penney and trade a few 6-packs for a pair of slacks.