Reciprocation

Welcome to the Fork in the Road Blogs: Reflections on Life. These are “fireside” musings on the reasonably long life I have lived so far. It is my way of thinking aloud over everyday issues reflecting on life’s “What”, “Why?” and “How?” and sharing my views with people around me, physically and virtually.

In this episode, I am musing over reciprocation. Reciprocation is giving in return. It is always in response to a material or virtual service. It is a social norm where an individual returns a favour, expression of kindness, or gesture that they have received. When applied positively, it is based on the principle of fairness, fostering trust and cooperation among individuals or groups.

Other meanings of reciprocation in the context of my musing, apart from giving in return, are interchange, exchange and sharing.
Normally reciprocation is done under friendly terms, without obligation at the best of times. But there may be times when the second party feels obliged to respond to whatever they have received. More like being under duress, the underlying emotion being: “I have to respond otherwise there will be trouble” or “Respond and get it over with”.

Reciprocation under duress occurs when someone feels compelled to return a favour or action due to pressure, threats, or coercion, rather than genuine goodwill or a sense of obligation. Here are some examples:

In a working environment, an employee receives a favour from a supervisor who in turn pressures the employee to respond by engaging in unethical behaviour, like falsifying documents or participating in fraud to cover up the supervisor’s misdeeds. The employee feels compelled, under duress, to comply due to the fear of losing their job or facing other negative consequences.

Reciprocation can also be used as a form of blackmail. For example, a person helps someone cover up a scandal or illegal activity. Later, they demand a favour in return, threatening to expose the secret if the favour is not granted. The reciprocation here is forced, as the individual feels trapped and must comply to avoid the threat.

In these examples, reciprocation is not voluntary or based on a genuine desire to return a favour, but rather the result of pressure, threats, or coercion. The element of duress undermines the ethical foundation of reciprocation, turning it into a forced or manipulated act.

A reciprocation or exchange can be a bribe where the process is intended to yield more or bigger rewards. Reciprocation can be used as a form of a bribe when the intention behind the reciprocated action is to unduly influence someone’s decision or behaviour, often in a way that is unethical or illegal. For example: a company might give an expensive gift to a government official in exchange for favourable treatment, such as winning a contract or avoiding regulatory scrutiny. The gift is presented as a gesture of goodwill, but the underlying intent is to secure a business advantage. Expensive gifts given as a sign of goodwill may have a hidden agenda of influencing decisions in the future. Free services to decision makers are very often intended to sway the decision maker’s professional judgment.

In the current corrupt political arena, financial donations are made to politicians of all shades under various guises with the expectation that the politicians will support legislation beneficial to the person bankrolling them. The contribution is framed as support for the political process, but it’s essentially a bribe for political influence. To make matters worse, the moneys used may be diverted from public services meant for the ordinary people.

In business, most common is company lavish gifts to a potential client or partner with the hope that the client will choose their company for a lucrative contract. While the gifts are offered as a token of appreciation, the expectation of reciprocation makes it a form of bribery. These corrupt behaviours are leading to crippling national development.

In these cases, the act of reciprocation is tainted by the intent to influence the recipient’s decisions or actions in an unethical manner. The key difference between ethical reciprocation and a bribe lies in the intention and the expected outcome.

Reciprocation and retaliation are distinct concepts but related. When reciprocation is done under unfriendly terms, it becomes retaliation. Both reciprocation and retaliation are responses to actions taken by others, and both can be seen as forms of social exchange, where one person’s behaviour influences another’s. While reciprocation refers to the act of responding to a positive action with another positive action (intent not withstanding), retaliation, on the other hand, involves responding to mutually negative actions. They both rely on the principle of “giving back” based on what was received, but the nature of what is given back differs—positive for reciprocation and negative for retaliation. Retaliation is “an eye for an eye”.

In some cases, the same situation can involve both concepts. For example, if someone perceives an action as harmful but unintended, they might choose to reciprocate with a corrective action rather than retaliate. Conversely, if they believe the harm was intentional, they might retaliate instead of reciprocating positively. So, while reciprocation and retaliation are related through their basis in response behaviour, they differ in the intent and the nature of the responses.

Musing over reciprocation takes me back to the episode musing on “Thank you”. I said, in that episode, that those appreciations, gratefulness, gratitude, thankfulness, are expressions of positive acknowledgement of “services” provided. Positive reciprocation is in the same category of positive acknowledgement of a service or gift given. These are behaviours we are taught from early childhood, with proper upbringing, to say “thank you”, in other words to reciprocate positively, when we are given something by anybody.

Reciprocation is a universal form of human interaction that promotes social harmony and cooperation. Understanding the distinctions and degrees of reciprocation in different contexts and cultures enhances communal, personal and professional relationships. New relationships can be established by well-timed and genuine reciprocation done without any hidden or implied agenda. In the same way relationships can be tainted by ill-meant reciprocation which either aims at displaying status and wealth or intended as a bribe instead of genuine appreciation. True friendships are not built on material reciprocations but reciprocations of feelings.

Thank you for being part of the Fork in the Road Blogs: Reflections on Life. Be sure to look out for the next episode when I will be writing about Opulence. If you gathered something useful, please feel free to share the blog. My books, Fork in the Road: Creating a future of value starting from where you are and A view round the bend. Setting goals for your life’s journey are available for purchase at Aristoc bookshops in Kampala, Uganda and online at Amazon.

Your comments on my musings are most welcome and let me know whether there is a topic you would like me to muse over.