Publication:

Here's a Tip: Prosocial Gratuities Are Linked to Corruption

Thumbnail Image

Open/View Files

Here's-a-Tip_Torfason,Flynn,Kupor-Tipping-and-Bribery-6-6-12-SPPS.pdf (574.56 KB)

Date

2012-08-31

Authors

Published Version

Published Version

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you.

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Journal Issue

Citation

Torfason, Magnus Thor, Francis J. Flynn, and Daniella Kupor. "Here's a Tip: Prosocial Gratuities Are Linked to Corruption." Social Psychological & Personality Science (forthcoming).

Abstract

We investigated the link between tipping, an altruistic act, and bribery, an immoral act. We found a positive relationship between these two seemingly unrelated behaviors, using archival cross-national data for 32 countries, and controlling for per capita GDP, income inequality, and other factors. Countries that had higher rates of tipping behavior tended to have higher rates of corruption. We suggest that this surprising association may be accounted for by temporal focus—people may tip and bribe others in order to receive special services in the future. Indeed, in a pair of follow-up survey studies, we find evidence that the link between tipping and bribery can be partly accounted for by prospective orientation.

Description

Other Available Sources

Research Data

Keywords

tipping, bribery, gratuities, temporal focus, corruption

Terms of Use

This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles (OAP), as set forth at Terms of Service

URI

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:9491448

Collections

HBS Scholarly Articles

Endorsement

Review

Supplemented By

Related Stories

Story
Here's a Tip: Prosocial Gratuities Are… : DASH Story 2014-12-06
I'll try to make this as simple and direct as possible. I come from a town of less than 4000, and spent my whole life, up until college, living in rural areas. I have always wanted to do more and my college offers a program that would fund my studying abroad, if I can come up with a worthwhile topic. My goal is to build a strong enough argument related to the difference between bribery and the "gift giving" culture in China to fund a trip to Hong Kong to further research the issue. A good part of my argument relates to the prosocial cultural norms, the fact that it is customary to give, and receive gifts, but not to tip, and how they are linked to, yet different from, bribery. Especially with relation to how it affects cross-cultural interactions, especially in the business world. This will make a fantastic resource towards that end.