Indirect reciprocity: The concept and psychological mechanisms

  • Małgorzata Szcześniak University of Szczecin, Institute of Psychology
Keywords: upstream indirect reciprocity; downstream indirect reciprocity; gratitude; reputation

Abstract

The paper has an exploratory character and provides an overview of selected perspectives on both downstream (“as you scratch someone else’s back, I will scratch yours”) and upstream (“pay it forward”) versions of indirect reciprocity. Sociobiologists’ point of view is presented, as their work has contributed to the fact that the reciprocity of openness to a third party has become a subject of research in other scientific fields. Next, the concept of downstream and upstream indirect reciprocity is explained, according to the nomenclature used by selected mathematical biologists and economists. Finally, a psychological view of both forms of indirect reciprocity (positive and negative) is given through theoretical considerations, examples of empirical studies, as well as selected mechanisms and determinants that may underlie the phenomenon.

References

Abramczuk, K. (2008). Dobre powody, by pomóc nieznajomemu. Relewantna informacja w sytuacjach wzajemności pośredniej [Good reasons to help a stranger: Relevant information in situations of indirect reciprocity]. Decyzje, 10, 83-114.
Alexander, R. D. (1986). Ostracism and indirect reciprocity: The reproductive significance of humor. Ethology and Sociobiology, 7(3-4), 253-270.
Alexander, R. D. (1987). The biology of moral systems. New York, NY, US: Aldine de Gruyter.
Allen, P. M., Edwards, J. A., & McCullough, W. (2015). Does karma exist?: Buddhism, social cognition, and the evidence for karma. The International Journal for the Psychology of Reli-gion, 25(1), 1-17.
Anspach, M. (2011). Imitation and violence: Empirical evidence and the mimetic model. In S. R. Garrels (Ed.), Mimesis and science: Empirical research on imitation and the mimetic theory of culture and religion (pp. 129-154). East Lansing, MI, US: Michigan State University Press.
Austin, W., & Walster, E. (1974). Participants’ reactions to “Equality with the world”. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10, 528-548.
Baker, W. (2012). A dual model of reciprocity in organizations: Moral sentiments and reputation. In K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.), Oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship (pp. 412-422). New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.
Bartlett, M. Y., & DeSteno, D. (2006). Gratitude and prosocial behavior: Helping when it costs you. Psychological Science, 17(4), 319-325.
Berkowitz, L., & Daniels, L. R. (1964). Affecting the salience of the social responsibility norm: Effects of past help on the response to dependency relationships. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 68(3), 275-281.
Bolle, F., Breitmoser, Y., Heimel, J., & Vogel, C. (2012). Multiple motives of pro-social behavior: Evidence from the solidarity game. Theory and Decision, 72(1-2), 303-321.
Boser, U. (2014). The leap: The science of trust and why it matters. New York, NY, US: New Harvest.
Brzozowski, P. (2005). Uniwersalna hierarchia wartości – fakt czy fikcja? [The universal hierarchy of values: A fact or fiction?]. Przegląd Psychologiczny, 48(3), 261-276.
Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Wywieranie wpływu na ludzi: teoria i praktyka [Influence: Theory and practice]. Gdańsk, Poland: Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne.
Darlington, R. B., & Macker, C. E. (1966). Displacement of guilt-produced altruistic behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4(4), 442-443.
de Hemmer Gudme, A. K. (2013). Before the God in this place for good remembrance. A comparative analysis of the Aramaic votive inscriptions from Mount Gerizim. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Denson, T. F., Pedersen, W. C., & Miller, N. (2006). The displaced aggression questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(6), 1032-1051.
DeSteno, D., Bartlett, M. Y., Baumann, J., Williams, L. A., & Dickens, L. (2010). Gratitude as moral sentiment: Emotion-guided cooperation in economic exchange. Emotion, 10(2), 289-293.
Edlund, J. E., Sagarin, B. J., & Johnson, B. S. (2007). Reciprocity and the belief in a just world. Personality and individual Differences, 43(3), 589-596.
Eisenberg, N., Carlo, G., Murphy, B., & Van Court, P. (1995). Prosocial development in late adolescence: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 66(4), 1179-1197.
Eisenberg, N., Miller, P. A., Shell, R., McNalley, S., & Shea, C. (1991). Prosocial development in adolescence: A longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 27(5), 849-857.
Emmons, R. A., & Stern, R. (2013). Gratitude as a psychotherapeutic intervention. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(8), 864-855.
Fehr, E., & Fischbacher, U. (2003). The nature of human altruism. Nature, 425, 785-791.
Fehr, E., & Gächter, S. (2002). Altruistic punishment in humans. Nature, 415, 137-140.
Fein, D. (1976). Just world responding in 6- and 9-year-old children. Developmental Psychology, 12(1), 79-80.
Gray, K., Ward, A., & Norton, M. I. (2014). Paying it forward: Generalized reciprocity and the limits of generosity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(1), 247-254.
Greenglass, E. R. (1969). Effects of prior help and hindrance on willingness to help another: Reciprocity or social responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 11(3), 224-231.
Gruszecka, E. (2011). Wdzięczność a szczęśliwe życie [Gratitude and happy life]. Psychologia Społeczna, 6(4), 316-329.
Hagiwara, N., Alderson, C. J., & McCauley, J. M. (2015). “We get what we deserve”: The belief in a just world and its health consequences for Blacks. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 38(6), 912-921.
Hauser, M. D. (2007). Menti morali. Le origini naturali del bene e del male. Milano: Il Saggiatore.
Isen, A. M., & Levin, P. F. (1972). Effect of feeling good on helping: Cookies and kindness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 21(3), 384-388.
Jia, L., Lee, L. N., & Tong, E. M. W. (2015). Gratitude facilitates behavioral mimicry. Emotion, 15(2), 134-138.
Jung, M. H., Nelson, L. D., Gneezy, A., & Gneezy, U. (2014). Paying more when paying for others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(3), 414-431.
Ketelaar, T. (2015). Evolutionary psychology and emotion: A brief history. In V. Zeigler-Hill, L. L. M. Welling, & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), Evolutionary perspectives on social psychology (pp. 51-67). New York, NY, US: Springer.
Klein, M. (1957). Envy and gratitude: A study of unconscious sources. London: Twistock Publications.
Kulesza, W., & Nowak, A. (2003). Lubię Cię, bo jesteśmy dobrze zgrani: Wpływ koordynacji na pozytywne nastawienie w relacjach społecznych [I like you because we make a good team: The influence of coordination on positive attitude in social relations]. Przegląd Psycholo-giczny, 46(3), 323-338.
Kulow, K., & Kramer, T. (2016). It pursuit of good karma: When charitable appeals to do right go wrong. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(2), 334-353.
Kwiatek, P. (2016). Ucieszyć się życiem. Cztery okna wdzięczności [To be happy with life: Four windows of gratitude]. Cracow, Poland: Wydawnictwo Serafin.
Lazarus, R. S. (2006). Emotions and interpersonal relationships: Toward a person-centered conceptualization of emotions and coping. Journal of Personality, 74(4), 9-46.
Lazarus, R. S., & Lazarus, B. N. (1994). Passion and reason: Making sense of our emotions. New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.
Leimgruber, K. L., Ward, A. F., Widness, J., Norton, M. I., Olson, K. R., Gray, K., & Santos, L. R. (2014). Give what you get: Capuchin monkeys (Cebusapella) and 4-year-old children pay forward positive and negative outcomes to conspecifics. PLOS ONE, 9(1): e87035. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087035.
Lepianka, D. (2012). Motywy i uwarunkowania ludzkiej solidarności – poszukiwania teoretyczne [Motives and determinants of human solidarity: Theoretical explorations]. Prakseologia, 153, 169-185.
Lerner, M. J. (1971). Observer’s evaluation of a victim: Justice, guilt, and veridical perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 20(2), 127-135.
Marcus-Newhall, A., Pedersen, W. C., Carlson, M., & Miller, N. (2000). Displaced aggression is alive and well: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(4), 670-689.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-396.
Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being. New York, NY, US: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
McClelland, N. C. (2010). Encyclopedia of reincarnation and karma. Jefferson, NC, US: McFatland & Company.
Miller, N., Pedersen, W. C., Earleywine, M., & Pollock, V. E. (2003). A theoretical model of triggered displaced aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7(1), 75-97.
Moll, J., di Oliveira-Sourza, R., Zahn, R., & Grafman, J. (2008). The cognitive neuroscience of moral emotions. In W. Sinnott-Armstrong (Ed.), The neuroscience of morality: Emotion, “Brian disorders and development” (pp. 1-17). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Moody, M. (2004). Reciprocity. In D. F. Burlingame (Ed.), Philanthropy in America: A comprehensive historical encyclopedia (pp. 409-411). Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Nakamura, M., & Masuda, N. (2011). Indirect reciprocity under incomplete observation. PLoS Computational Biology, 7(7), 1-10.
Nowak, M. A. (2005). Five rules for the evolution of cooperation. Science, 314, 1560-1563.
Nowak, M. S., & Highfield, R. (2011). SuperCooperators: Altruism, evolution, and why we need each other to succeed. New York, NY, US: Free Press.
Nowak, M. A., & Roch, S. (2007). Upstream reciprocity and evolution of gratitude. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 274, 605-609.
Nowak, M. A., & Sigmund, K. (1998a). Evolution of indirect reciprocity by image scoring. Nature, 393, 573-577.
Nowak, M. A., & Sigmund, K. (1998b). The dynamics of indirect reciprocity. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 194, 561-574.
Nowak, M. A., & Sigmund, K. (2005). Evolution of indirect reciprocity. Nature, 437, 1291-1298.
Ohtsuki, H., & Iwasa, Y. (2004). How should we define goodness? – Reputation dynamics in indirect reciprocity. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 231, 107-120.
Ohtsuki, H., Iwasa, Y., & Nowak, M. A. (2009). Indirect reciprocity provides only a narrow margin of efficiency for costly punishment. Nature, 457, 79-82.
Roberts, G. (2018). Green beard relatedness, not indirect reciprocity, explains why individuals help those who help others.
Rockenbach, B., & Milinski, M. (2006). The efficient interaction of indirect reciprocity and costly punishment. Nature, 444, 718-723.
Schmidtz, D. (2006). Elements of justice. New York, NY, US: Cambridge University Press.
Simmons, C. H., & Lerner, M. J. (1968). Altruism as a search for justice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9(3), 216-225.
Simpson, B., & Willer, R. (2008). Altruism and indirect reciprocity: The interaction of person and situation in prosocial behavior. Social Psychology Quarterly, 71(1), 37-52.
Stel, M., van den Bos, K., Sim, S., & Rispens, S. (2013). Mimicry and just world beliefs: Mimicking makes men view the world as more personally just. British Journal of Social Psychology, 52(3), 397-411.
Suszek, H., Wegner, E., & Maliszewski, N. (2015). Transference and its usefulness in psychotherapy in the light of empirical evidence. Roczniki Psychologiczne, 18(3), 363-380.
Szcześniak, M., & Jean-Baptiste, M. J. (2012). Oltre la gratitudine: Un approccio interdisciplinare alla reciprocità indiretta. In A. Meneghetti & M. Spólnik (Eds), Gratitudine ed educazione: Un approccio Interdisciplinare (pp. 259-279). Roma: Libreria Ateneo Salesiano.
Szcześniak, M., & Nieznańska, A. A. (2009). Co się stanie, gdy mi pomożesz? Spojrzenie międzykulturowe na wzajemność pośrednią [What will happen when you help me? An intercultural perspective on indirect reciprocity]. Psychologia Społeczna, 4(4), 214-227.
Szcześniak, M., Zaleski, Z., & Rondón, G. (2013). Dobro z wyższej półki [Top shelfgood]. Charaktery, 203(12), 70-73.
Sztompka, P. (2016). Kapitał społeczny: teoria przestrzeni międzyludzkiej [Social capital: Interpersonal space theory]. Cracow, Poland: Znak.
Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2015). The theoretical foundations of evolutionary psychology. In D. M. Buss (Ed.), The handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 3-87). Hoboken, NJ, US: John Wiley & Sons.
Trivers, R. L. (1971). The evolution of reciprocal altruism. Quarterly Review of Biology, 46(1), 35-57.
Tsang, J. A. (2006). Gratitude and prosocial behavior: An experimental test of gratitude. Cognition and Emotion, 20(1), 138-148.
Wake, R. (2010). Bridging Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism with virtue ethics. In K. Engebretson, M. de Souza, G. Durka, & L. Gearon (Eds.), International handbook of interreligious education (pp. 315-324). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Academic Publishers.
Worthington, E. L. (2003). Forgiving and reconciling: Bridges to wholeness and hope. Downers Grove, IL, US: InterVarsity Press.
Wu, J., Balliet, D., & Van Lange, P. A. M. (2016). Reputation, gossip, and human cooperation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10(6), 350-364.
Xiao, E., & Houser, D. (2005). Emotion expression in human punishment behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 102(20), 7398-7401.
Yoeli, E., Hoffman, M., Rand, D. G., & Nowak, M. A. (2013). Powering up with indirect reciprocity in a large-scale field experiment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 110(S2), 10424-10429.
Yu, J., & Kou, Y. (2015). Paying it forward: The effect of selfishness transmission. Advances in Psychological Science, 23(6), 1061-1069.
Zitek, E. M., Jordan, A. H., Monin, B., & Leach, F. R. (2010). Victim entitlement to behave selfishly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 245-255.
Published
2019-04-08
Section
Articles