The experimental study of Bauschinger effect in Mn18Cr18N austenitic stainless steel was presented by compression-tensile cyclic loading tests with the prestrains ranging from 0.005 to 0.1, which was illustrated utilizing stress-strain curves and analysed by TEM images from aspects of microstructural mechanisms. Moreover, the Bauschinger effect and its associated roundness phenomenon in reverse flow curve with respect to different cycles and cyclic strain amplitudes were evaluated in a quantitative manner. The experimental results indicate that Bauschinger effect is apparent during the test. At smaller cyclic strain amplitude, intergranular backstress is the main source of Bauschinger effect. With further increasing of cycles, dislocation density increases and dislocation movement is hindered in the reverse deformation. Therefore, Bauschinger effect is weakened to some extent. At large cyclic strain amplitude, backstress originating from the dislocation pile-up at grain boundaries and the continuous formation of deformation twins dominate the Bauschinger effect. In addition, the backstress results in the roundness of reverse curve during cyclic loading. The larger value of Δεp*, the more obvious the roundness of the reverse curve, and the more significant the Bauschinger effect.