MIT Study Finds 599 Adults Expect Generosity Returned Only Between Equals

2 articles · Updated · studyfinds.com · Jun 12

Six MIT experiments found people expected favors to be repaid in equal relationships, but in hierarchical ones expected the original giver to be generous again.
599 U.S. adults showed the pattern across scenarios involving friends, coworkers, bosses and relatives, and it held whether the giver ranked higher or lower.
Two lab games with real financial stakes produced the same result: participants with unequal partners kept assigning generosity to the first giver, even when that choice reduced payoffs.
A single generous act was enough to reset expectations, the authors said, suggesting reciprocity may be narrower than classic psychology research on mostly equal pairs has assumed.