2.2. Social exchange among individuals Social exchange theory posits that people contribute to others commensurate with the contributions that they perceive are being made by others to them . This theory views the contributions that individuals make to an organization as elements of reciprocal arrangements .
Reciprocal arrangements occur when an individual performs some type of action for another individual, group, or organization.
The action is performed without a specific economic contract that ensures that the action will be repaid .
Rather, the individual who performs the action does so because he/she generally believes that the action will be reciprocated at some future time, though the exact time and nature of the reciprocal act is unknown and unimportant .