Question

Define the negative reciprocity norm. Does this norm apply more to those raised in the US South or North? Use the “culture of honor” experiment to support your argument. Make sure to describe the study and its results. ​

Answer 1

Caveat: Please run this answer through MS Word in “American English” as I may have used Oxford English in some areas.

(Question) Define the negative reciprocity norm.

(Answer) The Reciprocity Norm states that individuals usually reciprocate with other people, based on the way they are treated by those people.

Positive Reciprocity: Favourable behaviour by an individual is reciprocated by favourable behaviour from the person they are interacting with. It is the ‘benefit in exchange for a benefit’ behaviour.

Negative Reciprocity: Hostile behaviour by an individual is reciprocated by a similar hostility from the person they are interacting with. This is easily described by the aphorism “an eye for an eye.”

(Question) Does this norm apply more to those raised in the US South or North? Use the “culture of honor” experiment to support your argument. Make sure to describe the study and its results.

(Answer) Published in the ‘Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’, in May 1996, was a study by the department of psychology of the University of Illinois. This study about “Culture of Honour” and it was based on an experiment conducted with the test subjects in an open environment.

Specifically, people from the north and the south of the US were the test subjects. These subjects bumped into strangers on the pavement and were called ‘as**ole’ by the stranger who proceeded to move on. It was noticed that statistically, people from the north mostly decided to move along as they were not affected by the stranger’s insult.

On the other hand, people from the south were:

• Likelier to think that their masculinity or reputation was insulted.
• Spike in cortisol levels proved that they were relatively more upset.
• The rise in testosterone levels proved that they were prepping for an aggressive response.
• They were consciously primed for aggression and hence more likely to engage in dominant actions.

All of these traits were evoked because they felt that they had to protect themselves from the insulted inflicted on their honour. This is why it is known as the “Culture of Honour.”

The negative reciprocity norm is clearly evident in the above experiment. Since the people of the north and south reacted differently, it goes further to prove that this is more than just biological. It is an indicator of different cultural aspects that have reared the community over time into harbouring negative reciprocity more and perhaps making these individuals less susceptible to positive reciprocity.