Tea maker Honest Tea set up kiosks to see which people, in which states, were most likely to pay for cold beverages on the honor system and which would just grab a drink and walk away.
Results of the study project, called The National Honesty Index, were published online. This was the fifth year Honest Tea conducted some version of the Honesty Index study. Overall, the study concluded women were more honest than men and 92% of people in the U.S. were honest.
“Since most Americans did not physically participate in our experiments in all 50 states and DC, we can’t determine your exact honesty percentage. But we figured we could still have some fun sharing our results with you,” said a statement on The Honesty Index results site.
They set up an unmanned kiosk stocked with beverages offered for $1. Observers watched from a distance to track who did, and did not, pay for their drinks.
The study results show 99% of women were honest in Iowa, and 92% of women were honest in Illinois. For men, 98% were honest in Illinois and 97% were honest in Iowa.
Men were more honest than women in Illinois, 98 to 92 percent. In Iowa, women had a small advantage over men, 99 to 97%.
The study found 100% of blondes were honest in Illinois and 95% of all blondes were honest. Bald people were least honest according to the study findings.
The study also explored differences in honesty according to hair color, hair length, hair style, whether and what type of glasses were worn and whether and what type of hat was worn.
Results showed 94% of people who wore eye glasses were honest, and only 88% of people with a five o’clock shadow were honest.
