The Structure of Reciprocity

Reciprocity is one of the defining features of social exchange and social life, yet exchange theorists have tended to take it for granted. Drawing on work from a decade-long theoretical research program, I argue that reciprocity is structured and variable across different forms of exchange, that the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social psychology quarterly 2010-06, Vol.73 (2), p.119-131
Main Author: MOLM, LINDA D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attachment behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Cooley-Mead Award 2009
Cooperation
Cultural Capital
Cultural customs
Embeddedness
Exchange
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Game theory
Inequality
Interpersonal Relationship
Motivation
Networks
Organization theory
Organizational research
Organizational Theories
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reciprocity
Research Projects
Social Behavior
Social Capital
Social cohesion
Social exchange
Social Exchange Theory
Social interaction
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social Life
Social life & customs
Social Networks
Social psychology
Social Science Research
Social structures
Social Theories
Social theory
Society
Solidarity
Statistical Data
Studies
Theorists
Theory
Trust
Trust (Psychology)
Unilateralism
Work Organization
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Reciprocity is one of the defining features of social exchange and social life, yet exchange theorists have tended to take it for granted. Drawing on work from a decade-long theoretical research program, I argue that reciprocity is structured and variable across different forms of exchange, that these variations in the structure of reciprocity have profound effects on the emergence of integrative bonds of trust and solidarity, and that these effects are explained and mediated by a set of risk- and conflict-based processes. I discuss the consequences of this work for organizational theories of embeddedness and the production of social capital through network ties. Finally, I ask how the structure of networks and the structure of reciprocity are related to one another, and explore possible implications of the structure of reciprocity for exchange theorists' assumptions about actor motivations.
ISSN:0190-2725
1939-8999
DOI:10.1177/0190272510369079