Someone Tweets This Shopping Cart Test That Tells If You’re A Good Or A Bad Person And It’s Pretty Accurate
OK, so there’s this theory floating around Twitter that says it can determine whether someone is a good or a bad person faster than any priest or psychology test.
From the looks of it, the theory originated in the dark corners of 4chan but it became really popular when Jared from Atlanta shared it on Twitter. It quickly received over 680K likes there, with people discussing if it’s valid or not.
So what is all the fuss about? The theory proposes that a person’s moral character can be determined when they decide to return a shopping cart to a designated “cart return” spot or not. As simple as the statement is, the rationale behind it, however, is a bit more complex.
More info: Twitter
Image credits: ANTICHRISTJARED
Image credits: ANTICHRISTJARED
Most people in the comments under the thread agree that returning the shopping cart is the sensible thing to do and refusing to do so can make a strong case against you in the “are you a good person” category. These folks include former retail employees, who — for better or worse — have definitely seen the worst side of humanity. Trust me, I’ve worked as a waiter.
Psychotherapist and counselor Tati Silva said that The Shopping Cart Theory makes some valid points. “It goes back to character and personality, both used to describe someone’s behavior,” Silva told Bored Panda. “Personality is shaped by one’s heredity and environment in which they were exposed, easy to ready (Lickeman, 2011). As for one’s character like honesty, virtue, and kindliness. They are revealed over time, through various situations.”
“Characters are heavily influenced by the different situations we engage in. Therefore, if you choose not to take the shopping cart back it will expose your character,” Silva explained. “Because there is not a law that prohibits it or says that is wrong. The behavior will continue because it is the individual that needs to determine what is right or wrong, bad or good because — again — there aren’t any social norms or rules that specify this behavior might be considered inappropriate.”
Silva believes the shopping cart theory can expand to other behaviors too, such as throwing rubbish, cigarette butts, gum, masks, or gloves on the floor. Even laughing when someone falls or doesn’t hold the door for others. “That might reveal your moral character. One might do it without being aware of it because it is engraved in their habit. However, that can be changed by expanding self-awareness. It is likely the first step in gaining control over any behavior you wish to change. “
Image credits: ANTICHRISTJARED
Image credits: ANTICHRISTJARED
Image credits: ANTICHRISTJARED
Interestingly, similar moral dilemmas are often used by researchers to identify psychopathic traits as they can offer a deeper understanding of someone’s judgment. In one study, for example, a team of psychologists asked participants to respond to a set of hypothetical scenarios and found that those who gave utilitarian responses scored higher on measures of psychopathy.
One scenario in particular, developed by philosopher Philippa Foot, has been used like this for decades. According to Spring, The Trolley Dilemma, which was adapted by Judith Jarvis Thomson in 1985, goes like this: “A runaway trolley is about to run over and kill five people and you are standing on a footbridge next to a large stranger; your body is too light to stop the train, but if you push the stranger onto the tracks, killing him, you will save the five people. Would you push the man?”
The study, published in the journal Cognition, determined that people who answered ‘Yes’ had higher scores on measures of psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and life meaninglessness compared to those who chose not to push the innocent man. Also, fun fact, the illustration for The Shopping Cart Theory looks as if it was done based on The Trolley Dilemma. Who knows, maybe it inspired this whole thing.
People had a lot to say about the theory
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I always return my own cart. 100% of the time. And I frequently return nearby stray carts as well. Partly because I try to be respectful of the employees, but also because they're a driving/parking hazard and it's annoying in a crowded parking lot to have to pass up perfectly good spots because some jerk felt the need to abandon their cart in the middle of a spot >:[
I also return my cart 100% of the time, and I'll usually spend a minute aligning a few other carts in the corral when I do. BUT I understand there is logic - albeit a cruel and inhuman logic - in not returning the carts, People will reason that because there is already someone paid to do this job, that it would be wasteful and 'unfair' to make someone more valuable do it. This is just a byproduct of a fiercely capitalist society which teaches us that your salary determines how valuable your time is, and dollar value is more important than respect/kindness or other social values. This is why you may notice a lot of the rudest drivers in the nicer cars - some people truly feel that they deserve to be in front of you because they are worth more money. $ > life in capitalism!
There are people who, as part of their job, collect trolleys from the trolley bays to take them back to the supermarket for the use of other shoppers but we pretty much all know that you don't leave the trolleys dotted around the car parks and that returning the trolley to a trolley bay IS the norm. I don't disagree with your assessment of people and the problems inherent in a capitalist society though.
I too return my cart and others as they block access to allow people to park. I also get incensed when dirty brutes leave their trash in them!
Same here, I do hate it when there is one long and a short line of carts. And the long line always does block the short one, so I do re aline those carts aswell. Somehow it looks better and atleast one more person can get a cart at the same time.
Excellent perception.
Capitalism is evil and benefits only the wealthiest.
I used to actually stack 2-3 and take them back to the store. I miss those days:(
Thank you!... and I'm sure staff in the stores appreciate you, too. What I don't get are people walking into the store who don't grab a stray cart along the way -- even if they're not going to use a cart in the store, just push one toward the door.
For me it depends on how much pain I'm in. I don't yet qualify for handicap, so I try to park next to the corrals when I have to go to the store, hopefully there is a cart there I can lean on as I go into the store. Often, if there is not a buggy in the coral, I will park next to an "illegal" buggy and use it. Whether it gets "legally" parked when I am done depends on how far I will have to walk back to the car with no support. Often, I just give up and go home without going in at all. BTW, canes put me off balance, and a walker is too low, even when adjusted for height, and intensifies my pain. The buggy handle is almost perfect height
The reasons why I'm so grateful that supermarkets in the UK deliver.
People with fibromyalgia can be in tremendous pain but in general can't qualify for disabled parking.
You should try another Dr, maybe it's a country difference thing, but you should surely qualify :( I've had spina bifida all my life (obvs lol) but as I could walk fine I never got one. Then I got diagnosed with copd last year and I'm at stage three, so even walking round the grocery store leaves me gasping for air. I got my permit recently, but I struggle to get parks, and when I do as I'm early 30s and no visible signs of disability I get some flak from ppl. But I nicely tell them that my dr thought that spina bifida, short bowel syndrome stage three lung disease and blood clotting issues seemed to qualify me. I love watching the colour fade from their face ^-^ (I return my trolleys, it just takes me a while lol. But ppl see me struggling and often help which is lovely)
Why are people downvoting her?
I was just remarking that nobody in the article mentioned this aspect of putting them back, which is a prime motivator for me.
I always thought putting the cart back was what normal humans did.
It is. That's why it's such a useful test.
Polite people, yes. I have no idea what normal people do because at this point it's hard to say what is normal in the U.S.
He that is faithful in little things will be faithful in great things
The person who said they don't return it because they have kids in the car is just giving a silly excuse. I specifically park my car next to cart returns so that I can put the cart back and have an eye on my child as I do it. Just plan ahead. If I have to walk a few extra feet to park near a cart return then yay more exercise for me! Also, I guess I get bonus points because I return other people's abandoned carts when I see them too. There's no reason to disrespect already hard working people at these stores by abandoning carts.
Yeah - that's just making up reasons. A lot of car parks have parent and child bays which are near the shop and near trolley bays. Even if it is that far away they made it to the car with the shopping and the children safely so they can make that extra bit of an effort with the trolley - take the children with them to the trolley bay just as they did when doing the shopping! Trolleys left anywhere can often end up rolling into cars and causing damage - no need to be that lazy or that selfish.
"A lot of the car parks have parent and child bays"? Not in the U.S. I have never seen one. Once in a while I see an expectant mother parking spot, at businesses that sell things for babies. Just take the children to retuen the cart the same way you took them shopping? Have you never been with young children who emotionally exhaust you during shopping with having to help them behave, and then they have a tantrum near the end, or you have 1 in the cart and 1 who wants to run away in the parking lot because they're so frustrated with having been bored during shopping? Have you taken 3 kids under the age of 5 shopping? There is sometimes nothing easy, convenient, or safe about returning the cart. If I can, I return it. If I can't, I park the front wheels of the cart in the dirt or on a curb that will prevent it from rolling away. Protecting my sanity so I can drive safely home and protecting my children from slipping out of my grasp in a parking lot is not lazy or selfish. Oh yeah, and there is the option in many grocery stores to have a clerk help you to your car.
That "rolling into cars" is why I don't get annoyed when someone lifts it onto the curb. But I always return mine, so it's not an issue. I'm openly selfish. I once scurried over to grab a cart before it rolled into the side of someone's car. Why? Because it made me feel good. Same with returning carts.
Besides: children notice everything you do. Talk is cheap, modelling behavior is what resonates. Even the smallest kids may not grasp the dictionary definition of hypocrisy, but they know it when they see it. So, if parents nag at them to pick up their belongings, but those same parents throw crap around on the ground and walk away, or ditch the shopping cart just anywhere, I promise you those kids will learn the lessons the parents are really teaching them.
Right?! My mom used to park next to the cart return too for this very reason (4 small kids in tow) until I was old enough to be the one to return it while she put the others in their car seats.
Sometímes you can't park next to the corral.
I thought the exact same thing! I always check for the closeness of the nearest cart return before I commit to a parking spot.
I was going to say the same thing. And if you can't park right next to a corral, they usually have so many that you can take 10 seconds to run it to one and still keep your eyes on your kids and car.
Not always
Park a bit away from corrals. There are people who can’t aim but still launch their cart there. Others could accidentally ding your car too. That’s some positive thinking. Yay more exercise.
It depends on how docile your kids are, how far along in pregnancy you are, etc. Let's try to see somethings from the other person's perspective.
Have they ever considered what they're teaching their children by being lazy and not taking responsibility for returning what you borrowed?
Try to see things from the other person's perspective. Some might be lazy, but some might really need to leave it there. Things aren't always so black and white.
Lucas, I'm sorry you are disabled. Put there are all kinds of disabilities. All kinds of situations mothers have. And all kinds of pain. Yes, be proud of yourself. But don't puff yourself up about other people. You have no idea what their life is like.
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Don’t speak unless you are in someone else’s shoes. Don’t assume things, ever. Most store parking lots in the US are very, very large, and it’s rare to find a parking right next to the cart station.
These are perfectly able-bodied people generally-speaking maybe with children in prams/pushchairs. People can make the effort to find a trolley bay - the bigger the car park the more trolley bays there tends to be. I have managed it despite being disabled and when coping with small children. There may be rare instances where someone is struggling - coming down with an illness springs to mind for some reason - but mostly people just need to stop being so flipping selfish and make the effort.
I always return my own cart. 100% of the time. And I frequently return nearby stray carts as well. Partly because I try to be respectful of the employees, but also because they're a driving/parking hazard and it's annoying in a crowded parking lot to have to pass up perfectly good spots because some jerk felt the need to abandon their cart in the middle of a spot >:[
I also return my cart 100% of the time, and I'll usually spend a minute aligning a few other carts in the corral when I do. BUT I understand there is logic - albeit a cruel and inhuman logic - in not returning the carts, People will reason that because there is already someone paid to do this job, that it would be wasteful and 'unfair' to make someone more valuable do it. This is just a byproduct of a fiercely capitalist society which teaches us that your salary determines how valuable your time is, and dollar value is more important than respect/kindness or other social values. This is why you may notice a lot of the rudest drivers in the nicer cars - some people truly feel that they deserve to be in front of you because they are worth more money. $ > life in capitalism!
There are people who, as part of their job, collect trolleys from the trolley bays to take them back to the supermarket for the use of other shoppers but we pretty much all know that you don't leave the trolleys dotted around the car parks and that returning the trolley to a trolley bay IS the norm. I don't disagree with your assessment of people and the problems inherent in a capitalist society though.
I too return my cart and others as they block access to allow people to park. I also get incensed when dirty brutes leave their trash in them!
Same here, I do hate it when there is one long and a short line of carts. And the long line always does block the short one, so I do re aline those carts aswell. Somehow it looks better and atleast one more person can get a cart at the same time.
Excellent perception.
Capitalism is evil and benefits only the wealthiest.
I used to actually stack 2-3 and take them back to the store. I miss those days:(
Thank you!... and I'm sure staff in the stores appreciate you, too. What I don't get are people walking into the store who don't grab a stray cart along the way -- even if they're not going to use a cart in the store, just push one toward the door.
For me it depends on how much pain I'm in. I don't yet qualify for handicap, so I try to park next to the corrals when I have to go to the store, hopefully there is a cart there I can lean on as I go into the store. Often, if there is not a buggy in the coral, I will park next to an "illegal" buggy and use it. Whether it gets "legally" parked when I am done depends on how far I will have to walk back to the car with no support. Often, I just give up and go home without going in at all. BTW, canes put me off balance, and a walker is too low, even when adjusted for height, and intensifies my pain. The buggy handle is almost perfect height
The reasons why I'm so grateful that supermarkets in the UK deliver.
People with fibromyalgia can be in tremendous pain but in general can't qualify for disabled parking.
You should try another Dr, maybe it's a country difference thing, but you should surely qualify :( I've had spina bifida all my life (obvs lol) but as I could walk fine I never got one. Then I got diagnosed with copd last year and I'm at stage three, so even walking round the grocery store leaves me gasping for air. I got my permit recently, but I struggle to get parks, and when I do as I'm early 30s and no visible signs of disability I get some flak from ppl. But I nicely tell them that my dr thought that spina bifida, short bowel syndrome stage three lung disease and blood clotting issues seemed to qualify me. I love watching the colour fade from their face ^-^ (I return my trolleys, it just takes me a while lol. But ppl see me struggling and often help which is lovely)
Why are people downvoting her?
I was just remarking that nobody in the article mentioned this aspect of putting them back, which is a prime motivator for me.
I always thought putting the cart back was what normal humans did.
It is. That's why it's such a useful test.
Polite people, yes. I have no idea what normal people do because at this point it's hard to say what is normal in the U.S.
He that is faithful in little things will be faithful in great things
The person who said they don't return it because they have kids in the car is just giving a silly excuse. I specifically park my car next to cart returns so that I can put the cart back and have an eye on my child as I do it. Just plan ahead. If I have to walk a few extra feet to park near a cart return then yay more exercise for me! Also, I guess I get bonus points because I return other people's abandoned carts when I see them too. There's no reason to disrespect already hard working people at these stores by abandoning carts.
Yeah - that's just making up reasons. A lot of car parks have parent and child bays which are near the shop and near trolley bays. Even if it is that far away they made it to the car with the shopping and the children safely so they can make that extra bit of an effort with the trolley - take the children with them to the trolley bay just as they did when doing the shopping! Trolleys left anywhere can often end up rolling into cars and causing damage - no need to be that lazy or that selfish.
"A lot of the car parks have parent and child bays"? Not in the U.S. I have never seen one. Once in a while I see an expectant mother parking spot, at businesses that sell things for babies. Just take the children to retuen the cart the same way you took them shopping? Have you never been with young children who emotionally exhaust you during shopping with having to help them behave, and then they have a tantrum near the end, or you have 1 in the cart and 1 who wants to run away in the parking lot because they're so frustrated with having been bored during shopping? Have you taken 3 kids under the age of 5 shopping? There is sometimes nothing easy, convenient, or safe about returning the cart. If I can, I return it. If I can't, I park the front wheels of the cart in the dirt or on a curb that will prevent it from rolling away. Protecting my sanity so I can drive safely home and protecting my children from slipping out of my grasp in a parking lot is not lazy or selfish. Oh yeah, and there is the option in many grocery stores to have a clerk help you to your car.
That "rolling into cars" is why I don't get annoyed when someone lifts it onto the curb. But I always return mine, so it's not an issue. I'm openly selfish. I once scurried over to grab a cart before it rolled into the side of someone's car. Why? Because it made me feel good. Same with returning carts.
Besides: children notice everything you do. Talk is cheap, modelling behavior is what resonates. Even the smallest kids may not grasp the dictionary definition of hypocrisy, but they know it when they see it. So, if parents nag at them to pick up their belongings, but those same parents throw crap around on the ground and walk away, or ditch the shopping cart just anywhere, I promise you those kids will learn the lessons the parents are really teaching them.
Right?! My mom used to park next to the cart return too for this very reason (4 small kids in tow) until I was old enough to be the one to return it while she put the others in their car seats.
Sometímes you can't park next to the corral.
I thought the exact same thing! I always check for the closeness of the nearest cart return before I commit to a parking spot.
I was going to say the same thing. And if you can't park right next to a corral, they usually have so many that you can take 10 seconds to run it to one and still keep your eyes on your kids and car.
Not always
Park a bit away from corrals. There are people who can’t aim but still launch their cart there. Others could accidentally ding your car too. That’s some positive thinking. Yay more exercise.
It depends on how docile your kids are, how far along in pregnancy you are, etc. Let's try to see somethings from the other person's perspective.
Have they ever considered what they're teaching their children by being lazy and not taking responsibility for returning what you borrowed?
Try to see things from the other person's perspective. Some might be lazy, but some might really need to leave it there. Things aren't always so black and white.
Lucas, I'm sorry you are disabled. Put there are all kinds of disabilities. All kinds of situations mothers have. And all kinds of pain. Yes, be proud of yourself. But don't puff yourself up about other people. You have no idea what their life is like.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Don’t speak unless you are in someone else’s shoes. Don’t assume things, ever. Most store parking lots in the US are very, very large, and it’s rare to find a parking right next to the cart station.
These are perfectly able-bodied people generally-speaking maybe with children in prams/pushchairs. People can make the effort to find a trolley bay - the bigger the car park the more trolley bays there tends to be. I have managed it despite being disabled and when coping with small children. There may be rare instances where someone is struggling - coming down with an illness springs to mind for some reason - but mostly people just need to stop being so flipping selfish and make the effort.