Scientists named the most dishonest countries in the world. Europeans have something to be proud of here too

Can the honesty of residents of different countries be assessed with a simple experiment? This is exactly what an international group of researchers tried to do, the results of whose work were published in the journal Science.

To test how people behave in such a situation, scientists conducted an experiment in 355 cities across 40 countries. They entered shops, banks, hotels, museums, and other institutions and informed staff that they had found a lost wallet on the street but could not return it themselves. After leaving the wallet at the institution, researchers observed whether anyone would try to find its owner. A total of 17,003 "lost" wallets were used in the experiment.

The results of the experiment showed that wallets were most often returned in Switzerland, Norway, and the Netherlands. The top ten also included Denmark, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Germany, and France. Almost all European countries.

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At the other end of the ranking were Turkey, China, Morocco, Peru, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and Ghana.

The United States and the United Kingdom took positions in the middle. In the US, about 52% of wallets were returned, and in the UK, about 50%.

The researchers also noted that the upper part of the list was mainly occupied by wealthy countries, and the lower part by states with lower income levels. Poverty is not a vice, but as we can see, it does not promote honesty either.

It's not as simple as it seems

But don't jump to conclusions. Although these lists look convincing, the scientific community is still debating the interpretation of the results obtained.

As honesty researcher Jareef Martuza from the Norwegian School of Economics notes, the results of this experiment do not yet allow a definitive answer as to which countries can be considered the most honest. In his opinion, the difference between countries may be related to people's personal interests, social norms, or the specifics of a particular situation.

Moreover, in previous studies on the same topic, scientists came to different conclusions. For example, Dr. David Hugh-Jones from the University of East Anglia found significant fluctuations in honesty levels among a large group of countries depending on how it was measured.

For example, when participants were asked to toss a coin and report the result (with a monetary reward for "heads"), the level of honesty ranged from 3.4% in the UK to 70% in China.

However, when participants were asked to take an online test where they could easily cheat and receive a monetary reward for correct answers, respondents from Japan proved to be the most honest. They were followed by the British, while the residents of Turkey were deemed the least truthful.

It seems that scientists get different answers depending on exactly what question about "honesty" they ask.

Much depends on the amount of money in the wallet

Thus, the experiment with lost wallets cannot definitively tell us which nations are more honest than others. But, despite its limitations, it gives us important insights into human behavior.

One of the most unexpected results was that in 38 countries, wallets with a larger amount of money (about $94 in equivalent) were returned more often than those with a smaller amount (about $13). On average, the return rates were 72% and 51%, respectively. The only exceptions were Mexico and Peru.

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Perhaps people empathize more with someone who has lost a significant sum or do not want to commit a more serious offense. Or they don't want to waste time on trifles – what are a few dollars anyway.

Psychologist Nigel Holt from Aberystwyth University (UK) notes another important feature of the experiment. All wallets were handed over to organization employees at their workplace. In such a situation, a person understands that colleagues might notice their behavior, so the risk of being exposed is higher than if they found a wallet, for example, on a bus or on the street.

Other studies show that the decision to return a wallet is influenced by more than just money. In 2009, Professor Richard Wiseman deliberately "lost" wallets in various locations in Edinburgh. He received 42% of them back.

The researcher also found that lost items were returned significantly more often if they contained a personal photograph – for example, of a baby, a puppy, or an elderly couple. Thus, people were more sentimental than might have been expected.

We like to be honest

According to the authors of the study in Science, overall, the results indicate a fairly high level of civic honesty in various countries.

A similar conclusion was reached by a group of researchers led by Jareef Martuza in an experiment involving about eight thousand people. Participants were asked not only to complete tasks but also to predict how others would behave. It turned out that approximately two-thirds of people considered those around them less honest than they actually were.

However, this willingness to act honestly can change when a person sees a benefit for themselves or their group. In yet another study involving over five thousand Americans, scientists found that people are more likely to deceive if they believe it will help their political allies.

But when their own well-being is at risk, personal gain becomes an even more important motive, regardless of the political views of the person who might have suffered from their lies.

Martuza notes that scientists still do not fully understand why people are willing to lie or deceive in some situations but not in others. According to him, besides personal gain, who benefits or is harmed by the deception may also play an important role.

The researcher believes that such works have not only scientific but also practical value. In the modern world, people increasingly conduct financial transactions and interact with strangers, knowing very little about them. Therefore, understanding how people make moral decisions in different circumstances is becoming increasingly important.

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