Gift‐giving practices of the Japanese Americans in Honolulu have been analyzed within the framework of the reciprocity norm. This system of balanced reciprocity requires that specified amounts of money be given at important events in the life cycle. It is concluded that reciprocity serves important social functions by facilitating status placement, providing generational continuities, reducing conflict, and equalizing class differences.
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Colleen L. Johnson (1974) studied this question.
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