Maintanance Flashcards
Social exchange theory
A relationship is a series of exchanges
Each person tries to maximise rewards and minimise costs
Exchange come from feeling like you have to reciprocate when you have been rewarded
Rewards - love/sex
Cost- abuse/loss of opportunity
Thibult and Kelly
4 stages of a relationship
Sampling- exploring costs and rewards in a variety on r-ships
Bargaining- cost out the r-ship and identity sources of costs and rewards
Commitment- settle into a r-ship/ exchanges are predicable
Institutionalisation- interactions established and settle down
Comparison levels
You compare to old relationships
If it favourably compares = maintain
Comparison of alternatives
Compare to possible alternative situations
If current r-ship favours better than an alternative = maintain
Clark and Mills
Found 2 types of couple
Communal- concern was to reward partner
Exchange- keeping score
Found another couple type so doesn’t support theory
Equity theory
Having a profit is less important than fairness
Strive for fairness
Become distressed if feel inequity - give lots receive little
If inequity felt=dissatisfaction=breakup
Defined differently in each relationships and by each partner
If loser feels there is a chance of restoring it and are motivated = maintain
Prins
Investigated the effect of feeling inequity in Dutch couples - genes differences
Men - no desire for an affair and no report of having one
Women - considered having an affair
Experimenter effects
Investment
Made up of -
Satisfaction
Quality of alternative- no relationship could be more attractive option
Levels of investment - time,kids,friends
Rusbult
College students Questionnaire over 7 months Kept notes about -satisfaction in r-ship -how they compare -investment levels -how committed they felt Found all 3 contributed to how committed they felt Satisfaction and investment being the most important Existent of alt influenced break ups
Le and Agnew
A meta analysis 52 studies 11,000 pps Found that satisfaction and investment correlated with levels of commitment There were no gender differences Sexuality differences -lesbians - most influenced by alternative -gay- least influenced by investment
Rusbult and Martz
Applied the theory to women in refuges
Why hasn’t they split with abusive partner sooner?
Women felt a great commitment when -their alternative situation was less favourable (poor economic alternative)
-investment was high
Cultural
West- people have a choice to maintain or breakup
East-isolated if didn’t maintain
Test card
Social exchange theory Thibult and Kelly Comparison levels Comparison on alternative Clark and Mills Equity theory Prins et al Investment model Rusbult Le and Agnew Rusbult and Martz Cultural
