relationships👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 (set)

Question 1

what is the social exchange theory?

Answer 1

idea that if romantic partners are exchanging rewards and costs. relationship maintained when rewards exceed the costs.

Question 2

what did Thibault and Kelley say?

Answer 2

we want to minimise loses and maximise gains. satisfaction is judged in terms of its profit, defined as rewards minus the costs.

Question 3

are costs and rewards different for everyone or the same?

Answer 3

they are different for everyone. they can also change in a relationship over time.

Question 4

what were the rewards and costs?

Answer 4

rewards: companionship, sex, emotional support.
costs: time, stress, energy.

Question 5

what’s an oppourtunity cost?

Answer 5

investing time and energy In current relationship means using resources that you can’t invest anywhere else.

Question 6

how do we measure profit in a relationship?

Answer 6

essentially the amount of reward that you believe you deserve to get.

Question 7

what does comparison level stem from?

Answer 7

our previous relationships and social norms

Question 8

what is comparison level linked too?

Answer 8

linked to self esteem. if self esteem is low, then their comparison level will be low, therefore will be satisfied with gaining small profit from the relationship. high self esteem means they believe they’re worth much more

Question 9

how long does the theory believe we’ll stay in our current relationship for?

Answer 9

as long as its more rewarding than the alternative

Question 10

what did Duck say about the CLalt we have?

Answer 10

it depends on the state of our current relationship. if costs of our relationship outweigh the rewards then alternatives become more attractive

Question 11

what can you ignore when you’re In a satisfying relationship?

Answer 11

you don’t notice that other alternatives are available.

Question 12

what is the sampling stage in a relationship?

Answer 12

exploring the rewards and costs of social exchange by experimenting in our own relationships or observing others

Question 13

what is the bargaining stage?

Answer 13

marks beginning of relationship- start exceeding rewards and costs and identifying what’s profitable

Question 14

what is the commitment stage?

Answer 14

time continues, costs and rewards become more predictable and the relationship becomes more stable as rewards increase and costs lessen

Question 15

what is the institutionalisation stage?

Answer 15

partners are now settled down because norms of relationship are established

Question 16

AO3 SET- direction of cause and effect❌

Answer 16

• SET argues dissatisfaction comes from costs outweighing rewards/alternatives are attractive. Argyle suggests that we don’t measure costs our rewards in relationships nor do we constantly consider attractiveness of alternatives, that’s not until we are dissatisfied with the relationship.
• research supports this that dissatisfaction comes first. miller found that people who rated themselves to be in a highly committed relationship they spent less time looking at attractive people. so ppl in committed relationships ignore even the most attractive alternatives. SET cannot account for the direction of causation in this outcome

Question 17

AO3 SET- why does set ignore equity?

Answer 17

• there is research for the role of equity in relationships. this view’s more important than just the balance of costs and rewards. neglect of this means that SET is a limited explanation, which can’t account for a significant proportion of the research findings on relationships.

Question 18

AO3- measuring SET concepts

Answer 18

weakness bc psychological costs and rewards r more difficult to measure than superficial ones. they may vary person to person. CL, and CLalt are also hard to measure as how do we know when someone is dissatisfied and is it the same for everyone?