Asian favors: More than a cookie cutter approach

Using social exchange theory, we explore the exchange of favors and different rules of exchanges in China, Japan, and India. Although social exchange theorists have directed their attention to the universality of the norms of reciprocation and have indicated the prevalence of an instrumental view of reciprocity, we elaborate on the cross-cultural variations that exist regarding the way individuals view and apply the principle of reciprocation in the countries which we examine. To understand these variations, we discuss the pivotal cultural/historical conditions that seem to shape social exchanges and therefore country differences in favors exchanges. For example, while social relationships and the collective play a preponderant role in these three countries, the exchange of favors in China and India is primarily based on hierarchically-defined and ascriptive ties compared to Japan where relationships’ formation go beyond ethnicity, kinship, and family-oriented ties and are likely to be defined by the group membership. Finally, we end our discussion of favors by highlighting the bright and dark sides focusing on their use in the organizational milieu. We believe that examining favors in various Eastern contexts will advance social exchange theory by describing the social and historical construction of the rules of exchanges governing their use.