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August 12, 2016
Which stall should I use in the nearest public bathroom?
Research suggests you should avoid the middle stalls at all costs.
Nicholas Christenfeld presented a series of short experiments in centrality preference. For one of them, he examined the habits of beachgoers in a coastal Californian public washroom. It would have been at the very least impolite to stand around in there all day with a notebook recording which stalls people used. So Christenfeld came up with a useful proxy: toilet paper use. He enlisted the help of the bathroom's custodian, who kept track of how often toilet paper needed changing in each of the four stalls for 10 weeks. The results: Far more people used the middle stalls than random chance would predict â 60% of finished rolls came from the central stalls, with only 40% from the end stalls. - Business Insider
Posted by gerardvanderleun at August 12, 2016 8:50 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
Been laying awake nights wondering about this. Thanks Christenfeld. You can get back to teaching psych. 101 now.
Posted by: BillH ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://americandigest.org/sidelines/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 12, 2016 2:29 PM
I'm always surprised when I locate one that isn't stopped up to the brim.
Posted by: Jack at August 13, 2016 6:27 AM