In this blog post, we’ll examine the meaning and limitations of the Repeated Reciprocity Hypothesis—a leading theory explaining human altruism—through various examples.
What is the Repeated Reciprocity Hypothesis?
From vampire bats that share blood with one another to humans who help neighbors in distress during disasters, altruistic behavior is observed in many animals. However, human altruism is particularly unique among them. The question, “Why do humans engage in altruistic behavior?” has long been a major research topic in both the social and natural sciences. In ‘The Emergence of the Altruistic Human’ (by Choi Jeong-gyu), the author introduces seven hypotheses explaining altruism based on evolutionary game theory, a field he has studied for many years. In this article, I will explain the “Repeated Reciprocity Hypothesis”—the most intuitive and easy-to-understand of these—through several examples.
The Repeated Reciprocity Hypothesis consists of two key concepts: “repetition” and “reciprocity.” First, “reciprocity” means “the exchange of specific benefits between parties,” with the key point being that it involves mutual give-and-take. The Repeated Reciprocity Hypothesis explains that altruism arises from this process of exchanging mutual benefits. Simply put, it is the result of acting according to the principles of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” and “giving back as much as one has received.” The term “repeated” is added because the act of giving back in kind presupposes continuous interaction. If the interaction is not repeated, it becomes difficult to explain altruism, as there would be no way to respond or retaliate even if someone simply received help and left.
How can the repetition-reciprocity hypothesis be explained?
Let’s look at an example to understand this. When I was a senior in high school, a close friend of mine stumbled on the stairs and severely injured their ankle. At the time, our classroom was on the fourth floor, and since the school didn’t have an elevator, my friend faced significant difficulties every time they had to commute to and from school or go to the cafeteria for lunch and dinner. Eventually, another friend and I began helping him go up and down the stairs, picking up his meals for him, and carrying his bag. Even though we were busy preparing for college entrance exams as high school seniors, helping our injured friend can be considered an altruistic act. This behavior can be explained by the repetition-reciprocity hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, by helping my friend, I anticipate the possibility of receiving some form of assistance from him in the future. Since it is highly likely that we will continue to stay in touch and interact at least until we graduate from high school—and perhaps even beyond—if my friend fails to help me later on, I might respond by withholding my own cooperation. The core of the repeated reciprocity hypothesis is that altruism is formed through the process of exchanging benefits with one another, based on the premise of repeated interactions.
What are the limitations of the repeated reciprocity hypothesis?
Consider the following scenario. We often see people giving up their seats on subways or buses to the elderly, pregnant women, or people with physical disabilities. However, in such cases, the likelihood of repeated interaction between the parties is very low, and even if the person does not receive a seat when they themselves become physically disabled in the future, they would not even know whom to retaliate against. Therefore, the Repeated Reciprocity Hypothesis has the limitation that it cannot fully explain cooperative behavior that occurs in situations where repeated interactions are not a given.
So far, we have examined what the “Repeated Reciprocity Hypothesis” is and why the concepts of “repetition” and “reciprocity” are used together, using examples. This hypothesis has the limitation that it cannot explain altruism that occurs in situations where repeated interactions are not a given. Nevertheless, the repeated reciprocity hypothesis is a highly compelling theory because it can be easily applied to various examples around us without requiring in-depth knowledge of complex scientific background, and it is intuitively easy to understand.
There is still no single theory that perfectly explains human altruism. Therefore, various hypotheses complement one another in explaining human altruism. Rather than simply reading this article, if you explore what other hypotheses exist besides the repetition-reciprocity hypothesis and examine the strengths and limitations of each, you will gain a broader understanding of human altruism.
