"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:36)
Overview
We've all been wronged. Just as we've all committed wrongs against others. Jesus knew human nature. That's why He commanded us to forgive and show mercy without restraint.
And yet, justice for wrongs committed sits at the very foundation of our society, disincentivizing crime and incivility. We seem eager to forget Christ's calls for mercy when faced with even the possibility of being wronged.
Social pressures can influence our preference for justice over mercy. How many times have we cheered the sentencing of a criminal or relished the consequences of an inconsiderate coworker? And for those virtuous souls who extend mercy, how are they perceived by those around them?
These questions led us to wonder about the social perceptions of mercy relative to justice, particularly in everyday settings.
And yet, justice for wrongs committed sits at the very foundation of our society, disincentivizing crime and incivility. We seem eager to forget Christ's calls for mercy when faced with even the possibility of being wronged.
Social pressures can influence our preference for justice over mercy. How many times have we cheered the sentencing of a criminal or relished the consequences of an inconsiderate coworker? And for those virtuous souls who extend mercy, how are they perceived by those around them?
These questions led us to wonder about the social perceptions of mercy relative to justice, particularly in everyday settings.
The Experiment
A common setting for displays of mercy or justice is the restaurant. Wait staff are notoriously overworked and underpaid, yet are expected to serve patrons efficiently and cheerfully. Bad days can happen. And patrons can be notoriously demanding and unforgiving.
To test perceptions of justice vs. mercy, we designed a vignette experiment for 400 people recruited from Amazon MTurk. Participants read a hypothetical scenario about dining with a friend, being served by a rude waiter, and observing the friend leave a normal or poor tip, then rated how much they liked that friend.
Each participant was instructed told “Imagine you’re out to dinner with a friend at a restaurant. The food is good, but the waiter has been a bit rude. You get the check, and your friend decides to leave [a normal 15% tip despite the rude waiter / only a 5% tip since the waiter was rude].“
To measure likability perceptions, we asked participants "At this moment, how much do you like this friend?" on a seven-point scale (1 = Not at all, 7 = Very much).
To test perceptions of justice vs. mercy, we designed a vignette experiment for 400 people recruited from Amazon MTurk. Participants read a hypothetical scenario about dining with a friend, being served by a rude waiter, and observing the friend leave a normal or poor tip, then rated how much they liked that friend.
Each participant was instructed told “Imagine you’re out to dinner with a friend at a restaurant. The food is good, but the waiter has been a bit rude. You get the check, and your friend decides to leave [a normal 15% tip despite the rude waiter / only a 5% tip since the waiter was rude].“
To measure likability perceptions, we asked participants "At this moment, how much do you like this friend?" on a seven-point scale (1 = Not at all, 7 = Very much).
Results
Interestingly, there was no significant difference in likability between our 5% tipper (avg. = 4.70) and our 15% tipper (avg. = 4.91), (p = 0.138). Although perceptions of our merciful 15% tipper were slightly higher than our justice-seeking 5% tipper, the difference of only 4.5% was trivial and within our margin of error.
Conclusion
The results of our experiment suggest that, although being merciful won’t win you much praise, it won’t hurt your image either. At least in the context of an everyday act like tipping at a restaurant. So, with no cost to your social image, we hope you’ll feel a bit more emboldened to be merciful to those who wrong you. At least try. If you fail, we forgive you.