Laws, codes of honor, religious commandments and, moral principles are endowed by human societies to forbid certain social behaviors. The norms bare the importance of maintaining social order in the society. Reciprocity is the response that individuals use towards others influenced by the previous treatment from other people. Reciprocity is an internalized norm of a given society and has three aspects; the positive, the negative and the beliefs concerning it. Reciprocity explains why people behave in a certain way towards others. For example, tipping of waiters in a restaurant if one is satisfied with the services offered (Perugini, Gallucci, Presaghi, & Ercolani, 2003).Reciprocity is also explained by the decisions taken in the law courts in the context of reward and punishments. Reciprocity defines how people relate with each other with the purpose of gaining from the relationship. In most cases, social relations are dependent on the attitude the people possess and therefore all actions are influenced by different factors. The authors of the articles agree that reciprocity can be granted the high status of social norms.
In a society, people are interconnected to each other and their actions influenced by the set social norms passed on from generation to the other. The research illustrated in the three articles is used to determine how reciprocity is similar to culture, religion and even legal settings regardless of the nation or race of study (Perez, 2005). It is illustrated that an individual who holds an internalized norm is most likely to adhere to the demands of the social norms even when he or she is not being watched.
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Treating people nicely in most cases is received with a similar response and people tend to like those who like them and favor them in the decision making even when the favor is not requested of them (Whatley, Webster, Smith, & Rhodes, 1999).
This can be illustrated in the real-life experience in the US with regard to the ethnicity or race one associates. It is witnessed in the daily lives that there is a drift between the white and the minority group with regard to education, social class as well as access to social amenities. In the white populated schools, the other groups tend to be on the minimal. This contributes to the genesis of discrimination where the minority will feel sidelined and portray negative reciprocity to their counterparts with no precise reason. This is illustrated by the concept of negative reciprocity measurement.
Compliance with social norms is dependent on the majority acceptance and compliance Based on Perez article (2005), compliance can be influenced by the majority decision to comply with the specific social norm. The individualized internalized norm may take preeminence due to the decision made contrary to the social norm. This is based on the cost of the norm in place and if the implication is acceptable by the majority. In the US, discrimination lawsuits attract serious and costly impacts and therefore the society comply to evade the punishment attached to acting contrary to the legal social norm.
Research has demonstrated several modifying factors that affected the norm of reciprocity such as the value of the benefit to the recipient. These factors include degree of sacrifice experienced by the donor, the constraint imposed on the recipient’s response and the length of time between the benefit and the opportunity to reciprocate. Behavior is regulated by the social norm as and the availability of the private and public reciprocation. The private reciprocation involves the children learning from others on how to respond to issues based on how they observe others reciprocate.
Private reciprocation can be illustrated in the US society where religion is learned and transferred from age to age (Whatley, Webster, Smith, & Rhodes, 1999). Private reciprocation is internalized where children are instructed right from a tender age by their parents, their teachers and sometimes their peers. Private reciprocity is taught through tales and literature. On the other hand public reciprocation states that the initial benefit and subsequent reciprocation most of the time unfolds publicly. The social rewards and the social cost of violating the norms are known to be far reaching.
The dress code of the Muslim religion can be illustrated as a social norm which falls under the public reciprocation. The dress code is self-presentation that geared towards the need to avoid shame. Therefore, reciprocity can make an individual partake on an action that he would have done differently. Based on the research carried out, reciprocity is an aspect that determines and influences the daily lives of a society. Thus a kind gesture calls for a return of a similar gesture failure to which affects the trust that existed. If a person demonstrates an initial favor towards you, their request cannot be denied in the subsequent days. This illustrates that compliance to a certain norm depends on the benefit that an individual received or will receive in the long run.
In conclusion, reciprocity is a dependent factor that can be manipulated from time to time to achieve the desired outcome of the initiator of the action. The punishment and rewards of a social norm determine its acceptance and the compliance. The reciprocity is the mostly adopted functionality of a society and can be replicated in the different situations due to the majority of the people agreeing with them regardless of whether the compliance is private or public. Reciprocity is a universally accepted and practiced aspect that is done consciously and unconsciously such as reciprocating a smile with a smile to either a stranger or a known individual.
References
López-Pérez, R. (2005). Reciprocity, Social Influence, and Trust. 1-30.
Perugini, M., Gallucci, M., Presaghi, F., & Ercolani, A. (2003). The Personal Norm of Reciprocity. European Journal of Personality , 251-283.
Whatley, M., Webster, M., Smith, R., & Rhodes, A. (1999). The effect of a favor on public and private compliance:How internalize is the norm of reciprocrity. Basic and Applied Social Psychology , 251-259.
