Wallet Experiment Data

Experiment I. All wallets (n = 113) contained some consumer cards, a Swiss rail voucher (value 5 CHF, not visible), a used (obviously real) front door key and a coded USB stick with the inscription "business documents" and a banknote of 10 CHF (about 10 US $) as filling material. Varying the business card inside was by occupational status and name. The four treatments are: Urs Mayer (tailor); Dr. oec. Urs Mayer (manager); Mahmut El Hakim (tailor), Dr. oec. Mahmut El Hakim (manager).
In Experiment II (n = 110), the wallet contained the relatively large amount of money of CHF 108 (about 100 US $); of this, 100 CHF was in banknotes, the rest in coins. The remaining contents corresponded to Experiment I. Additionally, the treatment "with/without key and USB stick" was introduced. In 56 cases there was a key/USB-stick in the wallet while 54 wallets were laid out without key/USB-stick.
In both experiments, the wallets were left at streetcar and bus stops. They were systematically distributed along the streetcar lines in the city. This was largely randomized, i.e. purses of the different treatments were laid out alternately. Each event was recorded in detail on an observation sheet. Police and lost and found offices were informed and asked to cooperate. Very often, however, the lost property could be returned after a mobile phone contact (made possible by the phone numbers written on the business cards). Finders were offered a reward of 20 CHF. The experiments were conducted in 2019/20 before the start of the pandemic.
With the 2 x 2 - design of the business cards, the effect of status and a possible effect of discrimination can be determined. Key and USB-stick provided with a code are worthless for the finder. However, depending on the degree of empathy, she or he may imagine that the key and USB stick are of high value to the loser. Differences in the return rates of the wallets with or without key and USB-stick can indicate an empathy effect.