Article Here Is a Tip: Prosocial Gratuities Are Linked to Corruption

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 gross domestic product, 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. Keywords tipping, bribery, gratuities, temporal focus, corruption Which country is more likely to be plagued by corruption: one where people generously tip their waiters, or one where they walk away without leaving any gratuity at all? Many people might assume the latter, but we advance the counterintuitive idea that the former is more likely to be true. It may seem strange to associate corrupt behaviors, such as bribery, wit