1:37
Reciprocity is a hard-wired social norm that makes us return actions we receive. A driver signals to merge in New Jersey traffic, you yield, and suddenly everyone around you is yielding too, one gesture triggering the next.
Reciprocity is a hard-wired social norm that makes us return actions we receive. A driver signals to merge in New Jersey traffic, you yield, and suddenly everyone around you is yielding too, one gesture triggering the next.
Reciprocity. Reciprocity works like this. It's a core, hardwired concept. The fabric of society depends on this. And how it works is that when someone does something towards you that we reciprocate in kind. If I go up to you right now and I put my hand to shake your hand, you will feel a compulsion to shake my hand back. Why? Because it's reciprocity. It's what's expected of each other. What is given is received back. Here's an example of it. I speak quickly, as you notice, because I'm from New Jersey, and where I live in New Jersey is right outside New York City. We have more traffic flowing through this part of New Jersey, I would argue, than anywhere else in the world. And as I was coming to this event, to get to the airport, I'm pulling my car out and it's bumper to bumper traffic. I mean, bumper to bumper. I look down at my watch. I'm like, I am running a little bit late. As I'm looking down, the guy in front of me, I guess, started to flag me in, but I didn't notice. So what does he do? He starts doing this. And I'm still. I'm like looking down. I finally look up. By this time, he's doing one of these moves. So what do I do? I acknowledge it by giving him this. Thank you, let me in. Reciprocity. He does this. I do this. The guy behind him, obviously he got a little too close to his bumper, does this. So I do this. How often do you laugh when someone's doing this at you? I mean, yeah, Reciprocity. Reciprocity. What is done to you? We reciprocate.
In kind.
