27 people have completed my survey thus far. The survey can be found here.
The only case where more people leave scraps on their plate than completely clear it occurs when eating in dining halls. This supports the phenomenon of "Tragedy of the Commons," where a common resource is exploited or abused because there is no economic incentive to do otherwise. Several people support this with statements claiming to "try new things" and finding out they didn't like them, whereas the survey-takers are assumed to purchase only what they are guaranteed to like using more rigid forms of currency with limited quantities of food. This is also supported with the admission that most people would alter their dining hall behavior if there were some form of penalty for not clearing one's plate.
I like your theory its very interesting. You should distribute your survey to people in the dining halls at school.
ReplyDeleteThe theory you're discussing is extremely interesting. I had never really thought about how whether or not a resource is paid for determines how people use it. I am usually pretty good about eating everything on my plate, but I have definitely had experiences -- particularly at the dining halls -- where I was unable to eat everything due to trying something new and not enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteI suppose this theory would also apply to energy usage in hotels. People are often better about turning lights off in their own homes than when they are staying in a hotel because they are responsible for the electric bill at home.
I like your theory because it relates to me since I live at the dining halls. Literally, I sleep there.
ReplyDeleteThis theory seems to have some definite concrete background to it. A really simple, testable theory.
ReplyDelete