The norm of reciprocity requires that people repay in kind what others have done for them. It can be understood as the expectation that people will respond to each other by returning benefits for benefits, and with either indifference or hostility to harms. The social norm of reciprocity may take different forms in different areas of social life, or in different societies. This is distinct from related ideas such as gratitude, the Golden Rule, or mutual goodwill. See reciprocity (social and political philosophy) for an analysis of the concepts involved. The norm of reciprocity mirrors the concept of reciprocal altruism in evolutionary biology. However, evolutionary theory and therefore sociobiology was not well-received by mainstream psychologists. This led to reciprocal altruism being studied instead under a new social-psychological concept: the norm of reciprocity. Reciprocal altruism has been applied to various species, including humans, while mainstream psychologists use the norm of reciprocity only to explain humans. A norm of reciprocity motivates, creates, sustains, and regulates the cooperative behavior required for self-sustaining social organizations. It limits the damage done by unscrupulous people, and contributes to social system stability. For more details, see the discussions in tit for tat and reciprocity (social psychology). The power and ubiquity of the norm of reciprocity can be used against the unwary, however, and is the basis for the success of many malicious confidence games, advertising and marketing campaigns, and varieties of propaganda in which a small gift of some kind is proffered with the expectation of producing in the recipient an eagerness to reciprocate (by purchasing a product, making a donation, or becoming more receptive to a line of argument). For some legal scholars, reciprocity underpins international law "and the law of war specifically". Until well after World War II ended in 1945, the norm of reciprocity provided a justification for conduct in armed conflict. British jurist Hersch Lauterpacht noted in 1953 that "it is impossible to visualize the conduct of hostilities in which one side would be bound by rules of warfare without benefiting from them and the other side would benefit from rules of warfare without being bound by them."
Positive and negative The norm of reciprocity has positive and negative aspects.
Positive norm of reciprocity: "The embedded obligations created by exchanges of benefits or favours among individuals. The recipient feels indebted to the favour or benefit giver until he/she repays". The positive reciprocity norm is a common social expectation in which a person who helps another person can expect positive feedback whether in the form of a gift, a compliment, a loan, a job reference, etc. In social psychology, positive reciprocity refers to responding to a positive action with another positive action (rewarding kind actions). This norm is so powerful, it may allow the initial giver to ask for something in return for what was given rather than having to wait for a voluntary reciprocal act. In some cases a person does not have to ask, because an expectation to return the favor is already implied. Reciprocity also works at the level of liking; We like people who help us, and dislike those who ask for help but never return it. Such disapproval is often enough to make people comply with the norm of reciprocity. Negative norm of reciprocity: "A negative norm of reciprocity represents the means by which individuals act against unfavourable treatments, and functions to keep balance in social systems". In contrast to the positive reciprocity norm, the negative reciprocity norm emphasizes the return of unfavourable treatment as an appropriate response to a misdeed. The principle of this norm serves as a powerful deterrent for violent or symbolic mistreatment. Harming others invites anger and revenge; people receiving negative treatment are likely to retaliate angrily. People with a propensity towards anger may more strongly endorse the negative reciprocity norm as a justification for consummating their hostility by punishing the instigator of mistreatment. In one study, most college students believed that criminal punishment should be determined by the seriousness of the crime rather than by punishment's effectiveness in preventing similar crimes. There are contrasting ways to differentiate negative and positive norms of reciprocity. "In contrast to a positive norm of reciprocity Gouldner (1960) also suggested a negative norm of reciprocity or sentiments of retaliation where the emphasis is placed not on the return of benefits but on the return of injuries". So the norm may be characterized primarily in either a positive or negative way. However "both positive and negative norms or reciprocity serve as starting mechanisms as well as stabilizing functions in that they help initiate and maintain equitable interpersonal exchanges in human evolution".
Sustainable Healthy Relationships (R-Model)
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