The most powerful law of human nature. Law of Reciprocity also known as Givers Gain.
Have you ever noticed that you feel compelled to do something for people who have helped you along the way – even if they haven’t asked you to?
There’s something very powerful at play that causes this phenomenon.
Social psychologists call it The Law of Reciprocity – and it basically says that when someone does something nice for you, you will have a deep-rooted psychological urge to do something nice in return.
As a matter of fact, you may even reciprocate with a gesture far more generous than their original good deed. You can try and resist this law, but as a human, you will more than likely still feel that you need to respond in kind to a good deed. (0)
People want to be around givers, it just feels good. They have a high vibration that attracts people to them, like a moth to a flame. What you put out into the world comes back to you. Givers feel good all the time.
The more you give the more you receive. “You cannot give too much.” –Bob Proctor
Giving can be as simple as leaving everyone you meet with the impression of increase. Sincerely compliment people, notice what they do well and tell them how you appreciate them for it. When you start looking for the good in everything, the good become all you see (1)
Giving makes you happy –
A 2008 study by Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton and colleagues found that giving money to someone else lifted participants’ happiness more that spending it on themselves [despite participants’ prediction that spending on themselves would make them happier]. When people give, it activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust, creating a ‘warm glow’-effect. Altruistic behavior also releases endorphins in the brain, producing the positive feeling known as the ‘helper’s high’. And like other highs, this one is addictive, too. (2)
Giving keeps you healthy –
Giving helps others, but studies show that giving is also good for the giver. Giving boosts physical and mental health. It lowers blood pressure, you experience an increased self-esteem, less depression and lower stress levels. It seems that, contrary to popular belief, we don’t feel good by what we get, we feel good because of what we give. In the end givers live a longer life! (2)
Giving promotes social connection –
When you give, you’re more likely to get back. When you give to others, your generosity is likely to be rewarded by others down the line. Sometimes by the person you gave to, sometimes by someone else. It’s all about karma-points! When we give to others, we don’t only make them feel closer to us; we also feel closer to them. Giving promotes a sense of trust and cooperation that strengthens our ties to others. (2)
Giving enhances life’s satisfaction –
People who give to others are generally more satisfied with their own situation and life than those who don’t. Givers seem better able to cope with problems and difficulties in their own lives, maybe because they have a good understanding of how many people are worse off than they are. Helping others gives meaning to your life and helps to make life worthwhile. While you are thinking about another person, you aren’t dwelling on your own problems. (2)
Giving spreads joy –
When you give, you will spread joy to others in ways you may not even realize. And by giving joy to others, it’s hard not to experience some joy yourself. You create a connection that you may not have had otherwise. You make the world a happier place, one act of kindness and generosity at a time. (2)
Giving alleviates chronic pain –
Physical giving, as in volunteering may help you feel better physically. You are getting out, moving around more than you normally might and spending time with others. If you feel like other people are counting on you, you may be more likely to keep moving even when you are experiencing pain. And helping others may take your mind off of your pain. (2)
Giving is contagious –
When we give, we don’t only help the immediate recipient of our gift. We also spur a ripple effect of generosity. When someone behaves generously, it inspires observers to behave generously later, toward different people. In fact, researchers found that altruism spreads by three degrees. From person to person to person to person. ‘As a result’, they write, ‘each person in a network can influence dozens or even hundreds of people, some of whom he or she does not know and has not met.’ (2)
• Give money: many worthwhile causes need constant injections of cash.
• Give goods and services: give new and secondhand goods or use your skills to help others.
• Give time: volunteering your time is a great way of giving to others. You are giving of yourself.
• Give expertise: teach others what you know.
• Give random Acts of Kindness: little things that you do for people in your life or total strangers, often without
their knowledge, that will brighten their day.
• Give your smile: the cheapest and simplest gift you can give is your smile.
It shows that other person that you acknowledge them and brightens the day of both the giver and receiver.
