Reflective Essay Of Reciprocity: A Personal Experience

Last week, as I was walking around Somerset, in search for dress I could wear to attend a wedding… a slim, beautiful, tall and well-dressed lady approached me right outside the train station, before I was able to cross the road. Initially, I waved my hand at her in a manner to show my disinterests. However, she persisted and asked if she could just have 5 minutes of my time. The lady, who then address herself as Jenny then begin to make small talks with me and asks for my name. After that has been established, she asked me about my day and then complimented my nails and outfit. When this happened; I automatically took a quick glance at Jenny and then I complimented her on her good complexion. After much deep thought, I now think complimenting her back was a wrong move because thereafter, she thanked good nutrition for the flawless …show more content…
During my experience with Jenny, this feeling of reciprocity was rather prominent. Despite not knowing Jenny prior to this meeting, I still felt the sense of indebtedness towards her when she complimented me. This relates very well with one of the features of reciprocity where it states that the rule enforces uninvited debts. Just like the “Joe and the Coke” experiment by Regan (1971), where others might not want the initial favor of getting the Coke, I was okay with the fact if Jenny did not complimented me as this made me feel the need to repay her back.
During my conversation with Jenny, there were several times that I felt pressured to agree to her requests without further analysis. I felt a sense of indebtedness towards her just because she did something “nice” for me. This experience with Jenny felt really uncomfortable, especially when I did not ask for such favors because then I would feel the need to do something nice in return, which might trigger unequal exchanges according to Cialdini