Personal Mental Model

Personal Mental Model

According to Senge (2006), mental models are the underlying and deeply ingrained assumptions and generalizations that guide people’s understanding of the world and their actions. One of the mental models I have operated with over time is the principle of reciprocity. The principle of reciprocity avers that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. I have always believed that being kind to others or putting effort into my organization would yield equal treatment, but that is not always true.

Why Reciprocity No Longer Works

Even though reciprocity is a powerful motivation for human behavior, I have realized that the principle no longer applies to relationship settings. When either of the parties participating in a reciprocal relationship fails to deliver expected levels of equivalence, a sense of expectancy injustice sets in (Dufwenberg & Patel, 2017). Once one of the parties feels a sense of effort-reward imbalance, they are likely to abandon the relationship altogether. That means that reciprocal relationships only flourish when there is a shared sense of responsibility between the parties in a relationship.

What Needs to Be Changed

According to Sandhu et al. (2015), the best way to make reciprocity work is by building a long-term mutually trusting relationship as a prerequisite to generating reciprocity. Building a mutually trusting relationship applies to individual relationships, professional settings, and service delivery. For instance, an employer should explain performance expectations to employees and establish measurable metrics. These expectations will form the employee’s obligations. An employer should fulfill their part of the deal if an employee exceeds expectations. The employer’s obligations may include giving the employee work challenges and compensating them accordingly.

Alternative Mental Model

Hanlon’s razor mental model adequately addresses the weaknesses associated with the principle of reciprocity. The mental model intends to curb the human tendency toward attributional extravagance. For instance, if one texts a friend and they ignore their messages, one is tempted to think that their friend no longer wants to speak to them. Using Hanlon’s razor, failure to reply to texts may be attributed to the friend being busy. The mental model is consistent with the principle of ‘listening to both sides’ before making a judgment. Adopting Hanlon’s razor mental model will help me create successful relationships at work since I will be more tolerant of my colleagues’ adverse behavior.

References

Ballantyne, N., & Ditto, P. H. (2021). Hanlon’s razor. Midwest Studies in Philosophy, 45, 309-331.

Dufwenberg, M., & Patel, A. (2017). Reciprocity networks and the participation problem. Games and Economic Behavior, 101, 260-272.

Sandhu, S., Arcidiacono, E., Aguglia, E., & Priebe, S. (2015). Reciprocity in therapeutic relationships: A conceptual review. International journal of mental health nursing, 24(6), 460-470.

Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Doubleday.

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Personal Mental Model

Describe a mental model that is no longer working for you. Why isn’t it working? Explain how you think it needs to be changed. Be specific. What new mental model can you use? How will making this change impact your performance? Include examples.
In response to your peers, evaluate their new mental model. Provide feedback on at least one positive outcome you see with this new model and one unintended consequence that may arise.