This research attempted to distinguish the impact of two opposite-valenced feelings, indebtedness and appreciation, on reciprocity behavior. The two feelings are postulated to influence reciprocation through different mechanisms. I use the construct relationship accounting to describe the mechanism of indebtedness, suggesting that people maintain mental accounts to keep track of the favors they receive or provide in a relationship. Different types of accounts are proposed. Unlike indebtedness which is a negative feeling, appreciation is a positive feeling that influences future reciprocation through enhancing liking for the favor-donor. The results showed that indebtedness exerted greater influence on short-term reciprocity behavior while appreciation influenced long-term reciprocity be...[ Read more ]

This research attempted to distinguish the impact of two opposite-valenced feelings, indebtedness and appreciation, on reciprocity behavior. The two feelings are postulated to influence reciprocation through different mechanisms. I use the construct relationship accounting to describe the mechanism of indebtedness, suggesting that people maintain mental accounts to keep track of the favors they receive or provide in a relationship. Different types of accounts are proposed. Unlike indebtedness which is a negative feeling, appreciation is a positive feeling that influences future reciprocation through enhancing liking for the favor-donor. The results showed that indebtedness exerted greater influence on short-term reciprocity behavior while appreciation influenced long-term reciprocity behavior more.