The Truth About Better Decision-Making (Collection), 2/e

Truth 25. The reciprocity principle

Shortly after the United States entered World War II, the Americans joined the British in launching costly bombing raids over Germany. Part of the intent was to demoralize the Germans and break their will. The US and UK believed that a series of steady bombing raids would demoralize the Germans and cause them to retreat. However, the plan to demoralize did not work. Research reports conducted by the Office of Strategic Services that compared heavily and lightly bombed areas did not find significant differences in civilians’ will to resist.

Several other conflicts have followed the same psychological pattern—for example, Pearl Harbor, South Africa, and North Vietnam. In all of these instances, the aggressor ...