Altruistische Reziprozität. Theoretische Überlegungen und experimentelle Evidenz

Altruistic reciprocity means the unconditional tendency of ego to return any experienced action, no matter if the receiver is the same person ego has received the action from or not. Altruistic reciprocity is one candidate for the explanation of cooperation in anonymous, complex societies. In order to fulfill this function, altruistic reciprocity must work also with costly actions that are not socially controlled and directed to an anonymous third party. However, the experimental evidence shows no altruistic reciprocity if it is costly and directed to a third party. It remains unclear if there is costly and directed altruistic reciprocity. Reciprocity as a catalyzer of cooperation seems to be restricted to two situations: 1) Situations with social control where reciprocity is operative by social norms and/or strategic considerations. 2) Anonymous situations where reciprocity is cost-free and directed to the donor. Therefore, reciprocity seems not suitable as a motivator for cooperation in real anonymous situations, e.g. in a second-order free-rider problem.     

Reciprocities in caregiving relationships in Danish elder care

This article examines the nature of the reciprocal relationships between elderly people and both their informal caregivers and home helpers in Denmark. One of the key results concerns the importance that elderly care recipients attached to various forms of reciprocity. The two major ones were hospitality and gift giving. While informal caregivers see their caregiving as normative or as generalized reciprocity, many stressed that the elderly person's personality and their expressions of gratitude and appreciation (symbolic reciprocity) were important factors facilitating caregiving. Home helpers spoke of satisfaction in helping others, but also underlined the fact that they could see some good role models for their own old age. The results are analyzed on the backdrop of the nature of the Danish welfare system, which provided liberal pensions and benefits. This indirect reciprocity enabled elderly people to retain their ability to participate in reciprocal social relations and preserve their integrity and independence.     

The communication of anger and disappointment helps to establish cooperation through indirect reciprocity

Indirect reciprocity is cooperation through reputation: third parties cooperate with those known to cooperate and defect against those known to defect. Defection, then, can have the unjust motive of greed or the just motive of retaliation. To establish cooperation, observers should distinguish both motives for defection and respond more cooperatively to the latter. We propose that the expression of emotions may facilitate this inferential process. Indeed, in two laboratory studies participants inferred that defection out of anger or disappointment was a just response to a defector and they responded more cooperatively than when no emotion was communicated. Moreover, participants inferred that defectors who evoked disappointment instead of anger had a relatively positive reputation. We conclude that emotions help establish cooperation through indirect reciprocity.     

Creating moral economies: Reciprocity and welfare entitlements on the Yukon mining frontier

The Alaska-Yukon mining frontier in the late nineteenth century witnessed the creation, and subsequent abandonment, of a moral economy in which all community members recognized an obligation to indiscriminately contribute to one another's material support. The case of the Yukon miners suggests that in the absence of bonds of kinship, coupled with the lack of any strongly corporate organization or effective authority, investments in indirect reciprocity can nonetheless provide the basis for the community-wide extension of interpersonal welfare entitlements. But reciprocity's capacity to sustain such an extension of entitlements also appears in this case to have been significantly constrained by demographic variables.     

NONVERBAL RECIPROCITY IN NONDISTRESSED MARITAL PARTNERS: AN EXAMINATION OF BASE RATE CHANGE*

The present study sought to incorporate recent suggestions for reciprocity research into an experimental design which could use behavioral base rate change as a method for determining nonverbal reciprocity in nondistressed couples. This study examined reciprocity by surreptitiously manipulating the touching behavior of one spouse, and monitoring responses of the other spouse. Forty couples were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Couples were videotaped engaging in an assigned task which permitted interaction. During the interaction, positive touches, smiles, and headnods were monitored. Following instruction to do so, selected spouses in the experimental group increased their rate of touches. Results indicated that, in response, naive spouses subsequently increased their rate of touches. The results of this experiment provide supportive evidence for the lawful nature of reciprocity. The implications of these findings, and suggestions for subsequent reciprocity research, are forwarded.     

Reciprocity and Profit Sharing: Is There an Inverse U-shaped Relationship?

Free-riding potentially limits the effectiveness of profit sharing in motivating workers. While reciprocity can mitigate this problem, it need not be uniformly productive. We show that the probability of receiving profit sharing takes an inverse U-shape as detailed individual survey measures of reciprocity increase. This is consistent with moderate but not extreme reciprocity stimulating productivity. We support one potential causation path by showing that extreme positive (negative) reciprocity is associated with extremely high (low) socializing and among workers receiving profit sharing, an intermediate degree of socializing is associated with the maximum amount of paid and unpaid overtime, a productivity proxy.     

Does players’ identification affect trust and reciprocity in the lab?

Reputation mechanisms are mainly based on information sharing by traders about private trading experience. Each trader can therefore rely on his own past experience as a trader and on other traders’ past experience. The former is the direct component of the reputation mechanism and the latter the indirect component ( [Bolton et al., 2004a] and [Bolton et al., 2004b]). We design an experiment for isolating the direct component of the reputation system and studying its effect on the level of trust and reciprocity in a population where agents play both roles (trustor and trustee). Our experiment consists on three treatments of a finitely repeated investment game (Berg, Dickhaut, & McCabe, 1995). In the reference treatment there is no reputation mechanism at all, in treatment 1 trustees can build up a direct reputation, and in treatment two players can build up a direct reputation for both roles. We find that trustees’ direct reputation has a positive effect on reciprocity, but does not affect the average trust in the population. Trust is significantly higher only when players can build up a reputation in both roles. We show that the increase in trust is mainly linked to the formation of mutual trust-reciprocity relations.     

Gambling,Exchange Systems,and Moralities

History and ethnography show us that, across societies of the past and present, gambling varies considerably with respect to its organization, social meanings, and how it is regarded in moral terms. This paper presents a basic scheme for analyzing the relationship between gambling and society. A theoretical starting point is that reciprocity is fundamental to social and economic systems. An anthropological theory of exchange systems makes a broad distinction between a structural dimension (generalized versus balanced reciprocity) and a normative dimension (from voluntary to involuntary). A model of four basic forms of reciprocity, each having a characteristic exchange mode and morality, can thus be constructed. Gambling is here understood as an exchange system embedded in the reciprocal orders of society and having a necessary relationship to these; it can take on the characteristics of such an order or it can be regarded as conflicting with it. Much of the variation in the form and morality of gambling therefore emerges as systematic and explainable by a theory of forms of reciprocal exchange.     

Developmental Changes and Individual Differences in Trust and Reciprocity in Adolescence

A Trust Game was used to examine trust and reciprocity development in 12–18‐year‐old‐adolescents (N = 496), as findings have been conflicting and transitions in adolescence remain elusive. Furthermore, this study tested the roles of gender, risk, and individual differences in empathy, impulsivity, and antisocial tendencies in trust and reciprocity. Results indicate stability in trust and a decrease in reciprocity across adolescence, but also show that trust and reciprocity choices were influenced by risk, and that empathy mediated the age‐related decrease in reciprocity. Males trusted more than females, but there were no gender differences in reciprocity. These findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences and adolescents’ sensitivities to varying contexts in explaining trust and reciprocity development in adolescence.     

Reciprocity Counseling: Practice and Research*

This paper reviews the literature on reciprocity counseling. Evidence is presented for the usefulness of reciprocity counseling with young, well educated, white clients with slight to moderate marital distress. Research into the effectiveness of several components of reciprocity counseling including contracting, problem solving training and feedback is reviewed. Findings suggest that contracting alone is an important positive influence in increasing couples' reciprocating reinforcement. The impact of problem solving training is unclear. Sex of the therapist may influence husband and wife outcomes in problem solving training differentially. Couples' performance of problem-solving behavior appears to be under the control of other as yet unspecified variables. Feedback as a single treatment has unpredictable and sometimes negative results. Therefore use of feedback alone or without careful supervision appears questionable at this time. Issues raised for further research include use of token economies for more severely distressed couples, use of multiple therapists, and the development of a classification scheme for the severity of marital distress.     

Deterministic versus probabilistic consequences of trust and trustworthiness: An experimental investigation

There is overwhelming evidence of reciprocal behavior, driven by intentions. However, the role of consequences is less clear cut. Experimentally manipulating how efficient trust and reciprocity can be in deterministic and uncertain environments allows us to study how payoff consequences of trust and trustworthiness affect reciprocity. According to the results for our modified Investment Game, trustees reward trust more when trust is more efficient but do not adjust rewards when the efficiency of rewarding is varied. Furthermore, higher deterministic benefits result in higher levels of reciprocity for all trust levels, whereas an uncertain environment diminishes reciprocity.     

Organ donation and reciprocity

The willingness to donate organs post-mortem varies considerably both across and within countries. Linking these differences to personal characteristics is an important focus of research investigating the supply of donor organs. Anecdotal evidence and previous findings indirectly suggest that the desire to reciprocate others’ (un)willingness to donate organs plays an important role in the decision to become an organ donor. We use individual measures of reciprocity in a large, representative survey in Germany and relate these to organ donation attitudes and behavior. Higher positive reciprocity is associated with a higher general willingness to donate organs, but it does not correlate with donor card possession. Individuals with higher negative reciprocity have a lower general willingness to donate organs and are less likely to have a donor card. Our findings open up the possibility of a double dividend of measures that increase organ donations. These could yield an additional increase of organ donations via a feedback loop through reciprocity.     

REPRESENTATIVE TRUST AND RECIPROCITY: PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS

This paper provides evidence about the determinants of trust and reciprocal inclinations, that is, a tendency for people to respond in kind to hostile or kind actions, in a representative setting. We investigate the prevalence of reciprocity in the population, the correlation between trust and positive and negative reciprocal inclinations within person, the individual determinants of reciprocity, and the relationship with psychological measures of personality. We find that most people state reciprocal inclinations, in particular in terms of positive reciprocity, as well as substantial heterogeneity in the degree of trust and reciprocity. Trust and positive reciprocity are only weakly correlated, while trust and negative reciprocity exhibit a negative correlation. In terms of determinants, being female and increasing age are associated with stronger positive and weaker negative reciprocal tendencies. Taller people are more positively reciprocal, but height has no impact on negative reciprocity. Psychological traits also affect trust and reciprocity. ( JEL D63, J3, J6)     

Reciprocity and the structural determinants of the international sanctions network

The imposition of international economic sanctions is a strategic and often multilateral phenomenon of states attempting to coerce each other into altering their behavior by means of economic pain. The interlocking connections of states issuing sanctions and being sanctioned creates a network of interdependent relations and, we argue, the structure of dependencies endogenous to the network is a major determinant of the network's formation and persistence. We consider endogenous structures, both theoretically and empirically, with three foci: the tendency to sanction frequently, the tendency to be sanctioned frequently, and, most of all, reciprocity. The empirical support we find for each of these processes adds a new dimension to our existing knowledge of the sanctioning process, casts doubt upon some previous findings, and opens important avenues for future research.     

Do your duty—demand your right: a theoretical discussion of the norm of reciprocity in social work

This article presents a literature-based critique of the principle of reciprocity in welfare and social work. The norm of reciprocity is in principle an ethical, universal norm related to the whole scope of human interaction. In this article the scope has been delimited to social work and the implementation of a policy of workfare in Norway. Emphasis is given to exploring mechanisms that may explain important characteristics of implementation practices that are not always clearly visible. The discussion includes the dialectics between overarching institutional relationships such as the body of laws and existing policies, institutional practices and the practice of social workers. The norm of reciprocity is analysed as a generative mechanism that sometimes implies problematic aspects requiring critical examination and discussion. By viewing reciprocity as a generative mechanism and as a ‘starting mechanism’, problematic aspects of implementation practices may be better understood.     

Trading favors—Examining the temporal dynamics of reciprocity in congressional collaborations using relational event models

The norm of reciprocity shapes social interactions over time and should therefore be analyzed using longitudinal designs. This paper examines the temporal dynamics of reciprocity in the setting of legislative cosponsorship in the 113th U.S. Congress (2013–2015). Rather than aggregating cosponsoring events into network snapshots, cosponsoring events are ordered in time and reflect an event sequence of members supporting bills at distinct points in time. The norm of reciprocity is tested to see if it affects (a) new collaboration clusters emerging over time or (b) the time-to-cosponsoring. Findings suggest that receiving cosponsoring support recently, leads to future collaborations. However, this finding holds only for Republican members of Congress. Furthermore, reciprocity demands do not expedite cosponsorship support and members do not react faster to favors they received, calling mitigating effects of reciprocity on collective action into question.     

Reciprocity and Romance

This article examines the place of romance in the lives of single mothers. Drawing on interviews with single mothers in a rural state, I challenge prevailing views of relationships between single mothers and romantic partners that highlight the issues of exchange and that emphasize the possibility that women will be exploited by men. I argue instead that although single mothers generally adhere to the norm of reciprocity in their other relationships, in romantic relationships they accept substantial imbalances. In explaining this surprising finding, I consider the significance of romance within the context of the daily lives of single mothers and I explore how romance can become a strategic explanation for imbalance.     

Familial Reciprocity and Subjective Well‐being in Ghana

The authors investigated variations in reciprocity and the impact of reciprocity on well‐being in a West African society. They hypothesized that household size and income diversity encourage reciprocity, which in turn enhances subjective well‐being. In empirical testing of these hypotheses the authors used the data of the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire of Ghana, a national sample of household heads (N males = 33,949, N females = 13,900) collected in 2003. A regression analysis showed that remittance facilitates balanced or credited reciprocity, whereas size‐related measures (marital status and generational relationships) produce mixed results. Reciprocity clearly strengthens perceived economic security and level of happiness among Ghanaians. This research suggests that extensive reciprocity among kin, rather than household configurations, should be stressed in efforts to understand the structure of familial relationships and its consequences for well‐being.     

Negative reciprocity and its relation to anger-like emotions in identity-homogeneous and -heterogeneous groups

Several studies have shown that social identity fosters the provision of public goods and enhances the willingness to reciprocate the cooperative behavior of group members. Nonetheless, the question of how social identity affects negative reciprocity in identity-homogeneous and -heterogeneous groups has only received little attention. Consequently, we seek to fill this gap by examining whether social identity affects individuals’ willingness to sanction deviating group members in a public good context. Moreover, we devote particular attention to the role of anger-like emotions in negative reciprocity. To test our hypotheses, we employ one-shot public good games in a strategy method with punishment opportunity and induced social identity. Our results indicate that members of identity-homogeneous groups are prone to reveal less negative reciprocity than identity-heterogeneous groups when they face contributions smaller than their own. We also find that anger-like emotions much more strongly influence punishment behavior when individuals are matched with members of different identities than in identity-homogenous groups. These findings contribute to an increased understanding of the nature of social identity and its impact on reciprocity, improving economists’ ability to predict behavior while taking emotions into consideration.     

Subsistence,risk-taking,and reciprocity among the Tanchangya in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,Bangladesh

This paper examines livelihood strategies of Tanchangya culantro cultivators of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, in relation to their subsistence, risk-taking, and reciprocity practices, who have been embroiled in compulsive market participation due to paternalist state policies. It puts forward two propositions. First, the objectives of protecting subsistence and of improving familial situation drive Tanchangya peasants to employ flexible strategies in relation to risk management and income generation. Second, it proposes that reciprocity practices provide minimum security to village households in times of crises and exigencies, and work as a safeguard against the exploitation of capitalist Bengali traders. It concludes that subsistence struggles lead peasant families to choose most suitable crops and farming methods and remain open to diverse income sources. Village reciprocity practices, either as dynamic and evolving relationships between two actors or involving the larger community, having different forms, supplement this struggle of peasants for survival.