[돈의 심리] When childcare centers impose fines on parents for being late, the rate of tardiness rises.
During the Spring and Autumn Warring States period in China, the king of Qi and the king of Lu negotiated. In the meantime, the State of Qi quarreled with the State of Lu several times and took away territory, but apologized for the incident and attempted to restore proper relations with the State of Lu. When the King of Qi apologized to the King of Lu for the past, Prime Minister An Yong next to him said, “A small man apologizes with words, but a noble man apologizes with things.” If you want to truly apologize, you should not just say sorry in words, but do it with something, that is, a gift. Accepting this, the King of Qi returned the areas that were originally Lu’s land to the King of Lu. An Yong was called Anzi in later generations and was revered as a sage of the Spring and Autumn Period.
Even if it is not necessarily Anja’s words, an apology that is only verbal has its limits. Of course, in cases where there is only harm that makes the other person feel bad or mental harm, there are many cases where it is okay to apologize only verbally. However, in cases where material damage or property damage has been caused to the other person, an apology in words alone is usually not enough. What the other person often says when apologizing is, “Is it okay if you just say you’re sorry?” This reflects the idea that an apology cannot be done only in words, but that there is a need to apologize in the form of money or items of property value.
Study on fines for childcare centers in Israel
So, if you express your regret with money or objects, what happens to your regret afterwards? Will I continue to feel sorry after that, or will the feeling of regret go away, saying, “I’m done now.” There is a famous study on how money affects feelings of regret. This is a study jointly published in 2000 by Israeli behavioral economist Yuri Gniz and Professor Aldo Rustichini of Tilbuk University in the Netherlands. The title of the study was ‘A Fine is a Price’, and it was originally about how monetary fines affect people’s behavior. Since then, it has become more famous for research that provides implications on how money affects people’s moral feelings and feelings of regret.
The subject of the study was a childcare center that takes care of Israeli children during the day. Parents must drop their children off at the daycare center in the morning and pick them up at 4 p.m. However, there are cases where parents are late in the afternoon. In the United States, it is common to impose fines on parents if they are late. However, Israel did not impose separate fines on parents. Researchers examined the effect of fining parents for arriving later than the designated time. You had to pick up your child by 4 o’clock, but if you were more than 10 minutes late, you were fined 10 shekels. At the time of conducting this study, 1 dollar was 3.68 shekels, so 10 shekels wasThis experiment was conducted on 10 childcare centers in Haifa, Israel. Each childcare center had an average of 33.7 children, so the total target population was 337. For the first four weeks, we observed and recorded only how many parents actually arrived late. As a result of the survey, there were an average of 8.8 late parents per week per childcare center. Since children were left in the care of their children five days a week, an average of 1.76 parents were late each day. Out of 33.7 children, 1.76 parents came late, so the probability of parents being late was 5%. Most parents were not late and came on time to pick up their children.
From the 5th week of the experiment, parents began to be fined when they arrived late. Four child care centers have not imposed fines so far, and only six child care centers have imposed a fine of 10 shekels. If some people are fined and others are not fined, only the effect of the fine can be properly understood, excluding the effects of other socio-economic environments.
Chance of parents being late increases from 5 to 10%
The researchers’ initial expectation was that if fines were imposed, parents would be less likely to be late. However, when actual fines began to be levied, results began to differ from what was expected. When fines were imposed, the number of parents who arrived late began to increase. This was not just the case in one or two of the six child care centers that were fined. There was an increase in the number of parents arriving late at all six child care centers. Previously, the probability of a parent being late was 5%. However, this probability increased to 10%. The number of parents arriving late has doubled compared to before.
It wasn’t because the recession suddenly hit and parents had to work more. The four child care centers that did not impose fines were no different from before. If so, the reason why the parents came late was clear. Because a fine was imposed. Given the unexpected results, the researchers set out to explore why there were more delays in imposing fines. There are three answers provided by the researchers. First, I now know clearly what the penalties are for being late. Before, I was only told that I couldn’t be late, so I didn’t know what the consequences would be if I was late. If you are late, won’t the daycare center just leave your child unattended? Wouldn’t the teacher go home from work and leave the child alone? Because of this fear, I tried to never be late. But now that the fine has been imposed, it becomes clear. Even if you are late, you only have to pay a fine. This is the worst thing that can happen when you are late. If the worst possible consequence of being late is a fine, wouldn’t it be okay to be a little late?
Second, parents may have thought the child care center was being very friendly when it imposed the fine. Previously, childcare centers were very strict, so I thought that if parents were late a lot, there was a possibility that the childcare center would no longer take care of their child. If there is a risk of your child being kicked out of the daycare center, you should never be late. However, since they say you only have to pay a fine, you may think they are being kinder than you expected. If it’s a strict place, you shouldn’t be late, but if it’s a friendly place, it’s okay to be late.
Third, because moral norms have changed. Previously, social norms such as not being late and not making teachers wait were in effect. However, the imposition of fines changed these social norms. Previously, it was a sacrifice for teachers to take care of children after their assigned hours. Teachers should not be sacrificed just to make themselves more comfortable. However, if you pay the fine, taking care of your child after the allotted time is no longer a sacrifice, but a paid service or product. If it’s a service or product, there’s nothing wrong with paying more to use it.
What’s interesting about this experiment is that parents’ tardiness continued even after fines were stopped. In this experiment, fines were levied from weeks 5 to 16, and from week 17 onwards, fines were not imposed. However, even if fines were not imposed, the frequency of parents being late did not return to the previous level. I continued to think, “It’s okay to
I think I paid for it in fines
There can be debate as to which of these three reasons makes more sense for parents to be late when issuing fines. However, one thing is clear: if you pay money, you will feel less sorry for the other person. I have feelings like, “Wouldn’t the teacher be angry?”, “Wouldn’t this be putting an unfair burden on the teacher?”, or “Wouldn’t it be making the teacher sacrifice something?”. However, if you pay, these feelings of regret are greatly reduced. Money serves to dilute one’s feelings of regret by making the other person feel that he or she has paid a price.
Is this a bad thing? I don’t think it’s bad. Some may say that it is better to have feelings of regret rather than money. But is it because I really feel sorry when I say I’m sorry? There may be such cases, but most of them are just lip service to get out of the situation. Isn’t money and material things better than that kind of lip service? That is why the saying “A small man apologizes with words, and a gentleman apologizes with things” came about. money dilutes feelings of regret. Giving money takes away the guilt. Whether good or bad, it can be seen as another effect of money.
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〈This article Weekly Donga It was published in issue 1465〉
Seongrak Choi, Ph.D. in Business Administration
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What role do fines play in shaping social norms and behaviors in various contexts?
Ormation and insights related to individual behavior and economics.*
The findings from the study by Gniz and Rustichini provide valuable insights into human behavior regarding moral decision-making and the influence of monetary incentives. It suggests that introducing a fine can paradoxically lead to an increase in undesirable behaviors—in this case, being late to pick up children from daycare. The reasoning lies in the redefinition of the consequences of actions when financial penalties are involved. Rather than viewing lateness as a moral failing, parents began to see it as an inconvenience that could simply be ”paid off.”
This illustrative case highlights the complexities of behavioral economics, where human psychology often diverges from traditional economic theories that assume rational decision-making. Instead, the study suggests that monetary fines might normalize certain behaviors, such as lateness, by altering parents’ perceptions of the situation and the associated moral responsibilities.
The implications extend beyond daycare settings and invite consideration of how fines or monetary penalties function in various societal contexts—from traffic violations to workplace tardiness. They challenge decision-makers to reconsider strategies for encouraging positive behavior while also exploring the notion that financial transactions can dilute feelings of guilt and regret.
The noteworthy persistence of the increased lateness even after fines were discontinued raises significant questions about behavioral conditioning and social norms. It suggests that once a new norm (in this case, a more relaxed attitude toward lateness due to the ability to pay) is established, it can become self-sustaining, emphasizing the power of monetary influence over social behaviors and interactions.
while monetary fines can address certain behavioral issues, they also risk reshaping the moral landscape of social interactions. This dual effect of monetary penalties calls for careful consideration in policy-making and organizational practices, aiming to strike a balance between maintaining accountability and fostering a sense of responsibility.