reciprocity norm

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the deeply ingrained social and psychological principle that when someone does something for us we feel obligated to return the favour in kind; in behavioural economics, the reciprocity norm explains why receiving an unsolicited small gift significantly increases compliance with subsequent requests, why charities include personalised address labels to boost donations, and why social relationships create quasi-contractual obligations that standard economic models of self-interest cannot capture; positive reciprocity involves returning generosity with generosity, while negative reciprocity involves returning harm with harm; both forms shape economic bargaining, contract enforcement, and cooperative behaviour in ways that depart markedly from rational actor predictions