Why do we help? One widely held view is that self‒interest underlies all human interactions, that our constant goal is to maximize rewards and minimize costs. Accountants call it cost‒benefit analysis. Philosophers call it utilitarianism. Social psychologists call it social exchange theory. If you are considering whether to donate blood, you may weigh the costs of doing so (time, discomfort, and anxiety) against the benefits (reduced guilt, social approval, and good feelings). If the rewards exceed the costs, you will help. Others believe that we help because we have been socialized to do so, through norms that prescribe how we ought to behave. Through socialization, we learn the reciprocity norm: the expectation that we should return help, not harm, to those who have helped us. In our relations with others of similar status, the reciprocity norm compels us to give (in favors, gifts, or social invitations) about as much as we receive.
People help because helping gives them _____(A)_____ , but also because they are socially learned to _____(B)_____ what others have done for them.