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Reciprocity Behavior in the Relationship Between Donor and Recipient and Between Harm-Doer and Victim

Authors:
Daniel Bar-Tal at Tel Aviv University
Daniel Bar-Tal
Yaakov bar-zohar at Beit Berl College
Yaakov bar-zohar
Hermon
Hermon
Hermon
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Martin S. Greenberg
Martin S. Greenberg
Martin S. Greenberg
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Abstract

Perceptions of help-rendering and harm-doing were tested by presenting 50 male and 50 female university students with one of a series of hypothetical situations. Preexisting relationship between interactors in the situation referred to five social relationships linking the subject with a parent, sibling, close friend, and acquaintance, or a stranger. Results indicated that the closer the relationship between the interacting persons, the stronger the expectations that help should be offered; the less gratitude expressed when help is offered; and the more resentment felt when help is refused.
1977 Reciprocity behavior Sociomet
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... An ongoing relationship (i.e., closeness) between targets and requesters is expected to modify the accuracy of the predictions regarding the costs and benefits associated with a medium. People are more experienced in making requests of friends (Bar-Tal et al., 1977) hence are expected to be more accurate in their perceptions of media effectiveness when approaching friends (Deri et al., 2019). At the same time, high levels of closeness between two individuals should reduce the perceived social cost of requesting due to a history of exchanging favours (Rand & Nowak, 2013) and a lower expectation of rejection because of this reciprocity (Shapiro, 1980). ...
... Third, people have more experience both requesting and being requested from friends (Bar-Tal et al., 1977), which possibly leads to more accurate predictions. On the contrary, one can argue that expected reciprocity (Rand & Nowak, 2013) and empathy (Shapiro, 1980) may lead requesters to overestimate email effectiveness when asking friends. ...
Resource-seeking and media choice process: A case of irrational decision making
Preprint
Full-text available
  • Jun 2025
p dir="ltr"> Resource seeking is crucial for individual and organizational success only if it is effective in convincing the resource provider to offer the needed resource. Computer-mediated communication theories provide insight into an ideal match between media and communication tasks, but typically treat the task as the attainment of mutual understanding between communicating partners. Instead, we developed theoretical models for media perceptions and subsequent media choice as a behavioral decision process, considering the characteristics of the resource-seeking context. In an experiment with 119 participants, we found that face-to-face resource seeking is vastly more effective than an email request, regardless of the level of closeness between communication partners. However, requesters tend to underestimate the difference between the two channels. A consecutive study with 121 participants revealed that this underestimation—combined with the fear of embarrassment and awkwardness—leads requesters to select the less effective channel (email). Our findings have practical implications and contribute to media selection theories by calling for greater focus on the characteristics of the communication goal and the sources of irrationality in media selection decisions.</p
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... Similarly, Clark (1983;Clark, Mills, & Corcoran, 1989) has suggested that in close relationships people may be less concerned about reciprocity and equitable exchanges than they are in interactions with strangers; thus, people may be less defensive about many types of help from people close to them. Indeed, in close relationships, people frequently may feel entitled to the receipt of help (Bar-Tal, Bar-Zohar, Greenberg, & Hermon, 1977;Morse, 1972). High expectations of help and feelings of entitlement may decrease the likelihood of a defensive reaction to aid because the inherent threat in being a recipient is minimized by the attitude that one is entitled to the assistance (Greenberg & Westcott, 1983). ...
... Similarly, high expectations of help were correlated with low defensiveness, supporting the notion that people are relatively nondefensive in reaction to aid they feel entitled to receive (Greenberg & Westcott, 1983). Because helping often is a part of the socially sanctioned role in close relationships (see Bar-Tal, Bar-Zohar, Greenberg, & Hermon, 1977), the receipt of help within the context of a relationship may not influence the recipient's self-evaluation. These results may in part explain why indebtedness did not relate to the other components of the defensiveness (see Footnote 1). ...
Defensiveness in Response to Aid From a Sibling
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 1992
Defensive reactions to aid in the context of a close relationship were studied. Young adult siblings reported on their self-esteem, the quality of the sibling relationship, relevant demographic variables, and a variety of components of defensiveness to aid. Consistent with theory, the components of defensiveness were interrelated. A large percentage (52%) of the variance in defensiveness was accounted for by conflict between siblings, dominance relative to one's sibling, low global self-esteem, high self-esteem when comparing oneself with one's sibling, and low levels of feelings of entitlement. Siblings were least defensive in reaction to aid from older and female siblings. Corroboration from a subset of benefactor siblings was obtained. The results are discussed in relation to recent thinking about the nature of receiving support in close relationships and recipients' reactions to aid.
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... As illustrated by the example above, a natural way to study whether the desirability of gratitude expression changes with relationship expectations is through a cultural perspective, because people hold different relationship expectations in different cultures (e.g., Adams et al., 2004;Triandis et al., 1990). Given that people are more likely to feel gratitude when relationship expectations are exceeded (Bar-Tal et al., 1977), we propose that cultural differences in relational expectations will explain cultural differences in whether people think expressing gratitude toward close and distant others is desirable. ...
... One possibility is by assessing whether the deed exceeds one's expectations, that is, goes beyond the perceived duties or obligations the benefactor has toward the beneficiary (Burgoon & Hale, 1988;McCullough et al., 2001). Consistent with this, feelings of gratitude are correlated with perceived obligation: People tend to perceive a given favor (e.g., giving one a ride to an important event) as more obligatory for close others (e.g., parents and siblings) than distant others (e.g., friends, acquaintances, and strangers), and, perhaps as a result, they tend to feel less grateful toward close others for that favor (Bar-Tal et al., 1977;Rotkirch et al., 2014). Similarly, in romantic relationships, people usually feel more grateful toward their romantic partner when the partner makes sacrifices that fall outside the individual's expectations than when the sacrifices are perceived as normative (Zoppolat et al., 2020). ...
“Thanks, but No Thanks”: Gratitude Expression Paradoxically Signals Distance
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2023
Many studies have found that feelings and expressions of gratitude bring profound benefits to people and relationships. We complicate this view of gratitude. We examine two variables known to impact people’s expectations for relationships: culture (collectivist vs. individualist) and relational distance (close vs. distant), and we find evidence that expressing gratitude conveys that relationship expectations have been exceeded, such that people view it as less desirable to give and receive gratitude for actions that are expected duties of a relationship. In both observational data and real behavior in an experiment, we found that people in a collectivist culture (China) are less likely than those in an individualist culture (America) to express gratitude to close others (Studies 1 and 2). Using hypothetical vignettes, we confirmed this pattern and further found there was no cultural difference for distant others (Study 3). These differences in expressing gratitude reflect differences in underlying feelings of gratitude, as well as differences in expectations of how the target would react to being thanked (Study 4). This cultural difference can be explained by cultural differences in the extent of duties placed on close others (Studies 5 and 6): People in China expect more of their close others. Perhaps as a result, people in China show a weaker preference than Americans for direct expressions of gratitude toward close others, but no difference for distant others (Study 7). Overall, our findings suggest that expressing gratitude may not always be good for close relationships.
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... Studies reported inconsistent results regarding expectation's influence on gratitude. Early questionnaire studies suggest that people express less gratitude when being helped by family members with high expectations to offer help (e.g., parents, siblings) compared to those with low expectations (e.g., cousins; Bar-Tal et al., 1977;Rotkirch et al., 2014). However, experimental studies manipulating expectation levels have not found any reliable effect of expectation on gratitude Yamamoto & Higuchi, 2022), possibly due to the limitations of the manipulation strategy to vary the magnitude of the benefit provided to the beneficiaries. ...
The Expectation-Updating Mechanism in Gratitude: A Predictive Coding Perspective
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2024
The fluctuations in emotions during constant help are unexplained by traditional emotion theories but may align with the predictive coding theory. This theory suggests that individuals tend to form expectations of others’ help during social interactions. When outcomes exceed expectations, positive prediction errors are generated, potentially increasing gratitude. Conversely, constant help may build up expectations that surpass outcomes, resulting in negative prediction errors and reduced gratitude. Nevertheless, there is a lack of studies to examine the relationship between prediction errors and gratitude and its underlying mechanism. Here, we conducted two studies. Study 1 consistently found that higher expectations were associated with lower gratitude, when benefactors refused to help, in both reward-gaining and punishment-avoiding tasks. Moreover, prediction errors were positively and reliably linked to gratitude. Study 2 further identified that gratitude dynamically changed through an expectation-updating mechanism. A computational model incorporating predictive coding outperformed traditional theories in predicting the dynamics of gratitude. The findings support predictive coding theory, providing a temporal perspective and a mechanistic understanding of the fluctuations in gratitude, thus having implications for new interventions to improve mental health and well-being.
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Revisiting the effects of helper intentions on gratitude and indebtedness: Replication and extensions Registered Report of Tsang (2006)
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2025
Gratitude and indebtedness are common emotions in response to a favour, yet research suggests that they are experienced differently depending on the situation. Tsang (Tsang JA. 2006 The effects of helper intention on gratitude and indebtedness. Motiv. Emot. 30, 198–204. (doi:10.1007/s11031-006-9031-z)), found that gratitude for a favour depended on perceived helper intention, whereas indebtedness did not. Perceived benevolent helper intentions were associated with higher gratitude from beneficiaries compared to selfish ones, yet had no associations with indebtedness. In a registered report with a United States Prolific student sample (n = 759), we conducted a replication and extensions of studies 2 and 3 from Tsang, 2006. In the original studies, Tsang found support for the impact of the helper’s intention on gratitude (study 2: ηp2 = 0.20 [0.08, 0.32]; study 3: ηp2 = 0.14 [0.03, 0.26]), but not for indebtedness (study 2: ηp2 = 0.01 [0.00, 0.08]; study 3: ηp2 = 0.00 [0.00, 0.03]). In our replications, we found support for the impact of helper’s intention on gratitude (study 2: ηp2 = 0.33 [0.28, 0.37]; study 3: ηp2 = 0.16 [0.12, 0.20]), and—as expected—no support for an effect on indebtedness (study 2: ηp2 = 0.00 [0.00, 0.01]; study 3: ηp2 = 0.01 [0.00, 0.01]). We concluded a successful replication, that helping intent was more strongly associated with gratitude than with indebtedness. Extending the replication, we found evidence for the impact of helper intention on perceived expectations for reciprocity (d = 1.51 [1.31, 1.71]), and reciprocity inclination (d = 0.66 [0.48, 0.84]), and for opposite associations of perceived reciprocity expectations with gratitude (r = −0.28 [−0.35, −0.22]) and indebtedness (r = 0.17 [0.10, 0.24]). Materials, data and code are available on: https://osf.io/ghfy4/. This registered report has been officially endorsed by the Peer Community in Registered Reports: https://doi.org/10.24072/pci.rr.100788.
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Role of Gratitude and Forgiveness in Spiritual Well-being of Teachers
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2018
The present study was conducted to investigate the role of gratitude and forgiveness in the spiritual well-being of the lecturers in the region of Multan, Pakistan. Convenient sampling was used and the sample of 100 teachers, (60 males and 40 females) was drawn from the faculty members of Bahauddin Zakariya University in Pakistan. Gratitude Questionnaire comprising of six items (GQ-6; McCullough, 2004), Heartland Forgiveness scale (HFS; Thompson & Synder, 2003) and scale of Spirituality Index of well-being (SWBS; Daaleman & Frey, 2004) were administered to measure the relationship among gratitude, forgiveness and spiritual well-being. The findings indicated that gratitude and forgiveness are positively correlated with the spiritual well-being and the level of gratitude was greater in female lecturers. Gratitude and forgiveness are strongly associated with spiritual well�being of teachers. Keywords: forgiveness, gratitude, spiritual well-being, lecturers
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How Does Confucian Culture Shape Employee Gratitude in the Workplace? Exploratory Research Based on Grounded Theory
Article
  • Dec 2023
Gratitude significantly affects employees’ positive psychology and behavior, and how to cultivate workplace gratitude has become an important practical issue. This article selected a Chinese company for field research and employed a grounded theory approach to investigate how Confucian culture shapes gratitude in the workplace. The findings indicated that Confucian culture influenced employees’ inward and benevolent attributional tendencies in the continuous interaction among the organization, employees, and their families. This prompted employees to engage in positive benefit appraisals and ultimately be grateful. The findings contribute to a Confucian cultural shaping process model of gratitude in the workplace and demonstrate distinct advantages over currently prevalent gratitude interventions or cultivation methods. This not only enriches the theory of workplace gratitude cultivation and cultural construction of emotions but also provides a clear pathway for organizational implementation. More specifically, we highlight that workplace emotion research needs to focus on the shaping processes of different social cultures, which can serve as a valuable corporate resource.
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Is Gratitude a Moral Affect?
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2001
Gratitude is conceptualized as a moral affect that is analogous to other moral emotions such as empathy and guilt. Gratitude has 3 functions that can be conceptualized as morally relevant: (a) a moral barometer function (i.e., it is a response to the perception that one has been the beneficiary of another person's moral actions); (b) a moral motive function (i.e., it motivates the grateful person to behave prosocially toward the benefactor and other people); and (c) a moral reinforcer function (i.e., when expressed, it encourages benefactors to behave morally in the future). The personality and social factors that are associated with gratitude are also consistent with a conceptualization of gratitude as an affect that is relevant to people's cognitions and behaviors in the moral domain.
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The Effect of Simulating the Absence of Benefits on Gratitude: Prior Expectations and Posterior Counterfactual Thinking 1 , 2 , 3
Article
  • Jul 2023
Beneficiaries can have prior expectations of not receiving benefits and imagine ex‐post that benefits were not given. The present study examined the preregistered hypothesis that these two kinds of absence simulations increase gratitude. Both Studies 1 and 2 were conducted in a Japanese university. In Study 1, reading a manipulated vignette made participants in the absence simulation condition expect not to receive a benefit, while those in the control condition were made to expect to receive it. In Study 2, after reading a benefit‐receiving vignette, those in the absence simulation condition imagined the situation where they did not receive it, while those in the control condition again imagined receiving it. In both studies, all the participants rated their gratitude for certain fixed benefits in each vignette. Results showed that gratitude in neither of the two absence simulation conditions was higher than that of the respective control conditions, suggesting that simulating the absence of benefits does not increase gratitude.
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Affecting the Salience of the Social Responsibility Norm: Effects of Past Help on the Response to Dependency Relationships
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 1964
  • J Abnorm Soc Psychol
A series of experiments by the authors assumes that many people in our society are motivated to aid others who are dependent upon them because such help is prescribed by a "social responsibility norm." The present study also assumes that prior help can increase the salience of this norm. In a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design using 80 Ss (college women), ½ of the Ss were individually helped by a peer (E's confederate) on a preliminary task, while the others were not aided. After this, the Ss worked on another task under the supposed supervision of yet another peer, with ½ of the Ss being told the supervisor was highly dependent upon their work and the others told she was less dependent upon them. The 1st peer would supposedly learn of their work in ½ of the cases but not in the other ½. The previously helped Ss tended to exert the greatest effort in behalf of their dependent peer. A self-report scale assessing social responsibility tendencies was significantly correlated with the effort measure in the Prior Help-High Dependency condition.
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