Abortion affiliation, urban size, and geographic bias of responses to lost letters.

Abstract

A study using 1800 "lost letters" was designed to test the hypothesis that returned responses would be greater in smaller rural communities (population M = 964) than in a city (population = 60,591) or the suburbs (population = 195,847) unless the addressee was affiliated with a pro-abortion group. Returns to control, Committee For Free Abortion, and Committee Against Free Abortion affiliates were 37.2%, 24.0%, 29.3%, respectively. From the city, the number of returned letters was much larger than the number from the suburbs except for those letters with an affiliation to the pro-abortion condition. Returned letters from the city were fewer than those from smaller rural communities except those letters affiliated with the pro-abortion group. More letters affiliated with the pro-abortion condition were returned from the suburbs than from the smaller rural communities. The geographic condition influenced over-all rates of return. Rates were higher when letters were addressed to a city P.O. Box than to a rural one. Second, rates were also greater in smaller rural communities for letters bearing "in-town" (Molino) and "out-of-town" (Pensacola) addresses than those from the city bearing an "out-of-town" (Molino) address. These findings seem to indicate the possibility that there may be some geographic bias in the willingness of people to help a stranger in need by returning a lost letter.