Blog #3- Desperate Times Call for Desperate Reciprocity?

Jane the Virgin is a TV series about a girl, Jane, who was accidentally artificially inseminated. This show is about Jane’s relationship with her family, her ex-boyfriend, and the father of her child. I have attached a photo below of a scene in an episode of Jane the Virgin. The father of Janes baby, Rafael, offers Jane’s ex-boyfriend the opportunity to become the godfather of Jane and Rafael’s baby. While this may sound silly, Michael, the ex-boyfriend had been fighting to be a part of Janes life and he had just rescued their baby. While Rafael does not like Michael, in this time of great appreciation for what Michael does for their baby, Rafael feels inclined to reciprocate the grand gesture. While this example may be unrealistic, we still see the idea of reciprocity behind Rafael’s action towards Michael.

In the book Influence by Robert Cialdini, chapter two addresses reciprocation. Cialdini starts this chapter by giving us an example of what he calls “the rule for reciprocation. This rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us.” (Cialdini, 17) This rule is a basis for this chapter and is exemplified many ways as Cialdini goes into detail regarding reciprocity. An important idea of the reciprocity rule is that after the act presented by someone “we are obligated to the future repayment of favors, gifts, invitations, and the like.” (Cialdini, 17-18) The rule of reciprocity is one that has been embedded in us and aligns with our human nature. Cialdini goes into the idea that even the liking of someone does not affect reciprocity negatively when it comes to favors and reciprocation. After an experiment explained in chapter two about the idea of liking Cialdini says that “the rule for reciprocity was so strong that it simply overwhelmed the influence of a factor-liking for the requester- that normally affects the decision to comply.” (Cialdini, 21)

Through the Jane the Virgin example given in the first paragraph, I explain the way the rule of reciprocity is seen in this specific episode. We can directly see what Cialdini would describe as reciprocity as Rafael repays Michael for what he provided them with, with an outstanding honor for his outstanding act of heroism. There was a certain amount of obligation to repay him and this was a way he felt he could do so. As mentioned in the Cialdini chapter, the rule of reciprocity also includes the obligation we feel to return whatever was received. I also mentioned that Rafael does not like Michael. They have both been fighting over Jane’s love and in turn have turned into enemies in a sense. But, in this scene we see Rafael asking Michael to be the godfather, despite their issues. This also directly relates to what was mentioned in the Cialdini chapter being that the urge to reciprocate can be extremely effective even when we do not like someone. Not liking someone does not change the way we see the rule of reciprocity. The episode of Jane the Virgin while fictional still displays the very real ideas that we see every day in society through the rule of reciprocity.

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