Here’s What Psychology Says About Tipping–and Why I Always Tip 20 Percent

Think good tips reward good service? That’s almost never true.

EXPERT OPINION BY MINDA ZETLIN, AUTHOR OF 'CAREER SELF-CARE: FIND YOUR HAPPINESS, SUCCESS, AND FULFILLMENT AT WORK' @MINDAZETLIN

Getty Images [ SasinParaksa]

If you leave bigger, or smaller, tips than other people, what does that say about you? Psychologists have spent years studying that question. They have some surprising answers about what our tipping habits say about us. As a result, I’ve changed own tipping habits. I now have a simple rule: In restaurants and most food service situations, I nearly always tip 20 percent.

Americans have been grappling with question of tipping for generations. For many people, it’s front and center again. Inflation has made tipping more painful than it used to be. Meanwhile, point-of-sale (POS) systems routinely suggest tip amounts of 18, 20, or even 22 percent. That’s left customers grumbling about “tipflation.” And it may have........

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