The Concept of Balanced Reciprocity in The Article "What Chimps Understand About Reciprocity" from Wall Street Journal

One concept from this week’s reading I found interesting was Balanced Reciprocity, or the exchange of something with the expectation that you will receive something in return. There are three stages of Balanced Reciprocity: giving, receiving, and reciprocating. I found this particular topic interesting because of how prominent it is in our society. There are so many different factors to the idea of gift-giving, which is why it is often thought of as a dreaded or stressful chore. Another interesting point addressed by the text is that it is very unlikely for Balanced Reciprocity to take place between strangers, because there is a level of trust that must be met. This system of exchange can be found in all aspects of life.

For my outside source, I chose a Wall Street Journal article entitled What Chimps Understand About Reciprocity. The article summarizes an experiment performed on six chimps at the Leipzig Zoo. During this experiment, the chimps were placed in cages facing each other. One chimp had the ability to gift the other with food, simply by pulling a rope. In the second part of the experiment the rope was eliminated, and one chimp was given food without help from its companion. In most cases, the chimp only shared its food if the other chimp had helped him get it. I found this particular article interesting because the chimps’ capacity to keep score says a lot about the way we automatically use reciprocity to form more complex relationships and societies.

When comparing this example to the text, I am able to create a greater understanding of the concepts introduced to me. The simple experiment between the chimps helped me realize that reciprocity is much more common than you would expect, and that our need for it is very prominent in many cultures around the world. As humans we use these concepts to create complicated systems in which we develop relationships. By creating trustworthy bonds with those around us, we are able to establish certain affiliations with those around us, and make decisions based off of them. Through the experiment of watching the chimps and how they use this concept of reciprocity, we are able to look into the past and make educated guesses on how our social behavior has evolved over time.

This week’s article, Christmas Gift Exchange: The Anthropological Rules Beneath it, touches gift-giving during the holiday season, and why we value it so much as a society. Picking out a gift for someone is a very stressful chore. However, somehow we have created an entire season based on the idea of giving and receiving gifts. This article describes why gift-giving is such an important aspect of our society, in that it keeps our relationships in tact. There are three parts to exchange gifts: giving, receiving, and reciprocating. Each is equally important. By giving a gift, you are establishing a sense of friendship, and giving off the message that you care about that person. When receiving a gift, you feel a sense of happiness and acceptance of the friendship. Lastly, when you choose to reciprocate a gift, you are validating (or ignoring) that initial attempt at a relationship.

Another interesting point brought up by the author is accuracy. Often times, it is considered a requirement to get the right gift for each person in your life, and if this is not fulfilled it may cause issues in a relationship. While there are many factors involved in the process of giving gifts, specifically at Christmas time, this process gives humans the chance to both strengthen or sever relationships. The article, written by Alice Robb, demonstrates how we have integrated specific systems into our society in order to create better functioning and healthier relationships. While Christmas today has become very materialistic, we are still able to generate a sense of happiness whenever we give or receive a gift. It is interesting that by simply not reciprocating a gift we can give off so many different messages, such as how much you like or appreciate someone, or how much you think they are worth to you. The concept of Balanced Reciprocity is prominent in almost every society, in many different ways.