Note: I recently shared this only with the readers of my newsletter. I thought I’d post it here too.

Have you heard the reciprocity principle in social psychology?

It’s a social rule that says people give back what they receive, it was popularized by Robert Cialdini in his book Influence. Everyone has been in that type of situation.

When you feel obligated to invite that annoying colleague for your birthday, it’s because he/she invited you as well. And you feel like you have to return the favor, right?

Reciprocity is a common technique used by marketers. It’s about giving with the expectation that you get something back.

Altruism is different. Which is basically giving for the sake of giving. You don’t expect anything in return.

And then there’s reciprocal altruism (originally a term from evolutionary biology), which is what most thought leaders use. People have different terms for it.