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The internet treats returning your shopping cart as the ultimate test of character, but the psychology of small unwatched good deeds says they are driven far more by the situation than by who you are
['Lachlan Brown', 'Written By', 'Lachlan Brown Is Editor-In-Chief Of Science Blog', 'Co-Founder Of Brown Brothers Media. He Writes About Psychology', 'Human Behavior', 'The Unexpected Ways Scientific Findings Reshape How We Understand Everyday Life.', 'More This Author', 'How We Edit']
ScienceBlog.com
You have probably met the shopping cart theory, even if not by name.
When the parking lot was tidy, about a third of people dropped the flyer on the ground.
When the same parking lot was strewn with abandoned shopping carts, that figure jumped to well over half.
That is the whole shopping cart theory turned on its head.
On a different day, in a messier parking lot, in the rain, you might surprise yourself.