Super Bowl Scandal

#4
It was super bowl Sunday, and the game was heating up. The connector was packed with hormonal teenagers, eyes glued to the television. The smell of pizza and soda pop clung to the air. You could feel the intensity from the moment you walked in the room. You’d think that in such a hectic environment, no one would even notice a one dollar bill, lying in the middle of the room. (This dollar bill was planted there by us, in order to observe whether or not people attempted to return it to its owner). However, the dollar bill was found by an unwitting subject, who -- in a demonstration of great integrity -- yelled out into the middle of the chaos “who’s dollar bill is this?” Later that night, when the game was coming to an end and there were less people around, we performed the experiment again. This time, it yielded a different result. We watched as someone picked it up, and casually slipped it into their pocket. Our hypothesis is that the first person was sub-consciously pressured to attempt to return the dollar because of all the people around. However, the second time around, there were less people to inhibit the subject – less people who would notice them pick it up and keep it. We also believe that in a closely knit community with lots of social capital, such as NCSA, people are more likely to return the dollar bill because they are well-acquainted with their peers and their surroundings. In an off-campus area, less people would have returned the dollar bill because they would know that it belongs to a stranger, and therefore feel unobligated to return it.