Reciprocity Reconsidered: Gouldner's `Moral Norm of Reciprocity' and Social Support

In a classic statement three decades ago, Gouldner (1960) made an important analytic distinction between reciprocity as a pattern of social exchange and reciprocity as a general moral belief. Gouldner argued that the moral norm of reciprocity constitutes an important `causal force' in social life. The reciprocity norm dictates that Ego should not end up gaining at the expense of Alter's beneficial acts towards him or her. In contrast to equity theory, which suggests that people will react equally negatively to under- and overbenefiting, the reciprocity norm suggests that people will, above all, attempt to avoid overbenefiting from their socially supportive interactions. While many studies of social support have incorporated the concepts of reciprocity and exchange, virtually none has examined the validity of Gouldner's distinction nor its potential implications for the dynamics of social support. This paper explores the evidence for Gouldner's claims from studies on support and reciprocity. Evidence is found suggesting that people feel obligated to return benefits they receive from others, appear to be more psychologically and emotionally averse to overbenefiting than underbenefiting from social support interactions, and tend to avoid placing themselves in the position of `overbenefitors'. Alternative explanations for avoidance of overbenefiting are considered, and implications for the study of social support are explored.