This article discusses the reciprocity hypothesis, which explains altruistic behavior in humans and animals. The reciprocity hypothesis is the theory that altruistic behavior emerges when favors are repeatedly exchanged, and it applies not only to humans but also to animals like bats. However, this theory has limitations, as it doesn’t fully explain unconditional altruistic behavior.
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” is a proverb that most people in Korea have probably heard at least once. We have probably encountered many situations in our daily lives that fit this proverb. For example, taking a friend’s eraser when they lose theirs is an example of this proverb. Similarly, “you reap what you sow” and “self-inflicted wounds” mean that you get back what you put forth.
It is the repetition-reciprocity hypothesis, described in the book The Emergence of Altruism, that explains our tendencies. Theories about human nature have been debated among philosophers since ancient times, including the vocalization theory and the sexualization theory. The vice theory states that humans are born evil, while the virtue theory states that humans are born good. However, neither of these two one-sided views can explain all human behavior, and the reciprocity hypothesis emerged to fill this gap.
The reciprocity hypothesis explains that the kindness of person A to person B cannot be explained simply because A is more altruistic than others, or because he is naturally good. If we think about the times we’ve done favors for others, we’ve probably done them more out of a sense of “this person can do this for me, so I’ll do it first” than out of unconditional kindness. But in order for this conditional altruistic behavior to occur, the mechanism of giving and receiving favors has to happen repeatedly, because when someone does a favor, they have to believe that the other person will return the favor. For this to happen, we need to build trust in each other through repeated give and take.
According to this hypothesis, this tendency is not only seen in humans, but also in animals. The most famous example is the bat, which is said to generously share the blood it has collected that day with other bats. At first glance, this behavior may seem altruistic, but it’s only true for bats in their own tribe. The reason for this can be explained by the theory we mentioned above. As long as they’re within their tribe, they’re willing to do this because they can share the blood brought by other bats on non-hunting days. One experiment showed that this behavior only occurred in bats that they saw repeatedly, regardless of whether they were related or not. So we can conclude that bats help other bats because they know what they will get in return, rather than because of kinship.
However, the reciprocity hypothesis is also limited in its ability to explain all human behavior. As mentioned above, the condition for the reciprocity hypothesis is that the favors of the two subjects occur repeatedly. However, if you look closely, we do favors for others even in non-recurring situations. For example, lending a hand to someone who is disabled or in need of assistance is an unconditional act without expecting any favor in return. We can see that the reciprocity hypothesis is not sufficient to explain these situations.
The reciprocity hypothesis is a hypothesis that emerged to explain the basis of human behavior. It is significant in that it explains what other hypotheses have failed to explain, but it has limitations in that there are still behaviors that cannot be explained by this hypothesis alone. However, as research is still being conducted on this hypothesis, methods will emerge to compensate for these limitations, and the hypothesis will gain greater significance.
In this regard, the reciprocity hypothesis needs to be analyzed alongside other theories to gain a deeper understanding. Human behavior is so complex and multifaceted that no single theory can explain everything. For example, from an evolutionary psychology perspective, altruistic behavior in humans is a result of natural selection because it is beneficial for survival and reproduction. Cultural factors and social norms also have a strong influence on human behavior. With these different perspectives, we can more clearly understand the pros and cons of the reciprocity hypothesis.
