Feeling Unforgiving? Try Some Berry Punch

This just in from the Harvard Business Review’s (HBR) Daily Stat: People “who were given 2 teaspoons of a bitter herbal supplement made harsher judgments of such actions as shoplifting and library-book theft, rating these behaviors an average of 78 on a 0-100 scale of "morally wrong," whereas people who had sipped only water rated the scenarios at just 62, says a team led by Kendall J. Eskine of the City University of New York. People who had sipped berry punch were even less harsh in their judgments.”

The report goes on to suggest, “the research underscores that what we think of as purely "moral" reasoning can be strongly influenced by intuition and physical feelings.” I have no quarrel with the study’s findings. What gets me is the low percentages of “harsh judgments” for doing something that is clearly wrong.

Call me naïve, but how can it be that 38% of people in a good mood and 22% of those having a bad day call shoplifting something less than morally wrong? One can only hope that the scenario described for the participants was one where the shoplifter was homeless and picking up a few things to avoid starvation. For the record, according to Business Insurance Quotes, two of the top three most shoplifted items in America are foods. In other words are we talking about absolutes or relativism?

Stealing a library book by the way, is a form of shoplifting but its worse than most shoplifting in at least one way. Its one thing to steal meat, the USA’s number one shoplifted item. There are usually plenty of ground beef packages on the shelf. When you steal a library book you are reducing, if not eliminating, the opportunity for others to learn something new or be entertained.

I realize there is also a potential upside to the far-reaching discovery that being in a good  mood has a tendency to make people more forgiving.  With any luck, entire industries that seem to specialize in hiring surly people (airlines come to mind) might now provide sweet drinks to their employees. Airlines can start with gate agents.

I wonder if defense attorneys will now use this knowledge to get better deals for their clients. “Your honor, if it pleases the court, may I offer members of the jury a spot of tea spiced with Tupelo honey while they deliberate?” Come to think of it, what were the jurors sampling during deliberations for the Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman trials? 

I am frankly troubled by research of this nature. There is a downside. In fact, the potential for mischief is infinite. In no time, news like this will filter down to children of all ages. How long will it take little Kendrick to figure out that it’s a good idea to offer mom a cookie before confessing that he broke the family heirloom vase? When newly licensed driver, Francine, wants the keys to the car, you know she is going to give daddy a sweet, delicious, Cella's Chocolate-Covered Cherry to help her seal the deal. It’s worrisome I tell you.   

It turns out that HBR’s Daily Stat is chock full of interesting studies. A recent experiment performed by Michael J.A. Wohl of Carleton University in Canada suggests that people were more than twice as likely to gamble $10 on slot machines if they first read an article warning of an unstable economic climate, poor job prospects, and higher costs. Periods of hardship can lead people to make risky and detrimental financial decisions, the researchers say.

In effect, these people are treating themselves, or at least their own self-interest, harshly. Would the results have been the same if they sipped berry punch while they read the bad news?