Relationships : Social Exchange Theory Flashcards
What is social exchange theory?
It explains why relationships end or persist.
What is the importance of profit?
- The theory’s underlying assumption is that people are rational beings who seek to maximise rewards and minimise costs in every aspect of their lives, including their romantic relationships.
- Social exchange theory proposes that partners will calculate the overall balance of costs and benefits in a relationship to determine if a relationship is satisfying enough to persist with.
- Benefits: companionship, sex, economic support and economic support.
- Costs: loss of independence, financial costs, stress and emotional labour.
- Profit in a relationship will always be subjective to how people perceive the value of factors.
What is the comparison level?
- According to social exchange theory, people determine if their relationship should persist by weighing the level of profit they perceive in their relationship against their comparison level.
- Comparison level represents the level of profit that a person expects they should receive from a relationship, in order for the relationship to be satisfying.
- A person with a low comparison level will be satisfied with and persist in a less profitable relationship than someone with a higher comparison level.
- A few factors that help establish a persons CL:
1. A persons experience in previous relationships will help determine one their comparison.
2. Social norms will also affect a persons comparison level. Eg high profitable relationships are common in the family.
What is the comparison level for alternative?
- Social exchange theory recognises that people do persist in unsatisfying relationships and it can be explained b y the comparison level of profit.
- Clalt is defined as the lowest level of profit a person will accept from a relationship in light of available alternatives.
- A person with a lower Clalt may therefore persist with an unsatisfying relationship as the alternatives will seem even more unsatisfying.
- A factor affecting a persons Clalt is their level of dependance. Dependance is defined as a the degree to which a person believe that he or she is subject to or reliant on the other partner. Higher dependance will lower a persons Clalt as they will view a satisfying alternative relationship as less achievable.
How does social exchange theory relate to the development of a relationship?
- Thibault and Kelly argued that relationships have a predictable pattern of development. Initially relationships enjoy a honeymoon period in which partners experiment with rewards and costs, but as the relationship develops, partners come to establish a clear pattern of rewards and costs in the relationship.
Why are there reasons to doubt the underlying assumptions of social exchange theory’s account
of romantic relationships?
The theory depends on an assumption that people only ever act in self-interested ways. But this overlooks that people in romantic relationships may work for the benefit of their
partners, sometimes even at great cost to themselves. If the underlying assumption of social exchange theory is wrong, then its conclusions on why romantic relationships persist (or don’t)
are in doubt.
What social exchange theory may offer a limited explanation of satisfaction in romantic relationships?
Using a questionnaire, Utne (1984) found that respondents who considered their relationship as equitable in terms of the rewards and costs were more likely to rate their relationship as satisfying than respondents who thought they were over benefitting in their relationship. This finding challenges the basic assumption of social exchange theory that relationship satisfaction is determined solely by the amount of profit a person can extract from the relationship. Although this doesn’t mean that social exchange theory’s explanation of behaviour in romantic relationships is wrong, it does suggest it has failed to take account of the role of equity. However, this research’s challenge to social exchange theory as a theory of romantic relationships is undermined by its reliance on a questionnaire. How a participant responds in a questionnaire may lack validity as it can be affected by social desirability bias, meaning their responses won’t be a valid representation of their behaviour. For example, due to social desirability bias, participants may exaggerate the importance they place on equity in a relationship, as they may view this as the socially correct response. Therefore, it’s possible their real beliefs about relationships do match the assumptions of SET.
