COMING SOON!
(scheduled for publication April 4, 2026)
The Psychology of Tipping
Scientific Insights for Services Customers, Workers, and Managers
Table of Contents
1. More than Small Change (Who cares about tipping? Why? What should they know?)
2. Beyond Gratitude & Gratuity (Why do, or don’t, people tip?)
3. Big-Tippers & Stiffers (Who gives the best tips, and who gives worst?)
4. A Time for Tips (When do people tip more, and when less?)
5. A Place for Tips (How and why does tipping vary across geographic areas?)
6. Perk of the Job (Why do we tip some service occupations and not others?)
7. Unequal Pay (Who gets the best tips and who gets the worst?)
8. Mega Tips (How can service workers get larger tips?)
9. Winners & Losers (Who does tipping benefit and who does it harm? How?)
10. Cornucopia of Controversies (What controversies arise from tipping? What should people know about them?)
11. Past as Prologue (How did tipping get where it is? How might it change going forward?)
Get Your Copy here!
ENDORSEMENTS
"Michael Lynn is a social psychologist at Cornell, and one of the worlds' pre-eminent scholars on tipping. We interviewed him several years ago for a Freakonomics episode called ‘Should Tipping Be Banned?’ We needed to find someone who could answer all our tipping questions. Now he answers all your questions about this fascinating behavior in his new book, The Psychology of Tipping."
-Stephen J. Dubner, journalist and co-author of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores
the Hidden Side of Everything
“The leading researcher of tipping over the last few decades has been Prof. Michael Lynn, and I was very glad to see that after publishing numerous articles about tipping, he has now also written a book on this fascinating phenomenon. As we all experience tipping in our daily lives, and tipping has many interesting facets that the book discusses, I am sure many people will enjoy reading the book.”
-Ofer H. Azar, Professor and President of International Association for Research in
Economic Psychology
“Drawing on psychology, economics, and social research, Michael Lynn offers powerful insights for anyone interested in learning more about the emotionally-charged topic of tipping. This is a fascinating look at the hidden science of tipping, and why it matters for anyone who gives, receives, or leads in the hospitality and service industries.”
-Danny Meyer, restaurateur and author of Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of
Hospitality in Business