Relationships - Theories of romantic relationships : Rusbult's Investment Model Flashcards
What does Rusbult’s Investment Model suggest?
It suggests that commitment and investment are both more important than satisfaction in determining the likelihood of a successful relationship.
What theory is RIM an extension of?
Social Exchange Theory
According to RIM, what are the three factors that determine the level of commitment?
Satisfaction, Comparison with alternatives, Investment size
What does ‘satisfaction’ relate to in relationships according to RIM?
When partners see large profits, there are fewer profitable alternatives
What does ‘comparison with alternatives’ relate to in relationships according to RIM?
If one person feels that their profits are decreasing such as through increasing costs they will start looking for alternative relationships
What does ‘investment size’ relate to in relationships according to RIM?
There are many couples who have small profits but stay together because they have made large investments
What are the two types of investment?
Intrinsic or extrinsic
What is an intrinsic investment?
Intrinsic is added at the beginning of the relationship and during it. E.g money, time, energy and opportunities
What is an extrinsic investment?
Extrinsic are resources as a result of the relationship. E.g shared mortgage, children, strong expectations to stay together
What does the size of investment dictate?
Dictates how hard partners will work to salvage their relationship and demonstrate commitment. This is seen as economically selfish.
What mechanics facilitate commitment?
positive illusions, forgiveness, willingness to sacrifice, accomodation and ridiculing alternatives
What are the strengths of RIM?
+ RIM features high ecological validity because it can easily explain abusive relationships
+ Although self report measures are usually criticised as lacking objectivity and creating qualitative data, this is not the case with RIM
What are the limitations of RIM?
- RIM sees the motivation to continue with a relationship according to the investment, time , energy which an individual has contributed. This is an oversimplified view of the complexity of relationships.
Explain research support for the investment model
The importance of commitment as an indicator of relationship stability is supported by a meta-analysis by Le. They analysed data from nearly 38,000 participants in 137 studies over a 33-year period to discover the key variables that predicted ‘staying or leaving’ behaviour in non-marital relationships. In line with predictions from Rusbult’s investment model , commitment (or lack of it) was a particularly strong predictor of whether a relationship would break up
Explain problems in measuring variables of the investment model
A particular problem for the investment model is that it is difficult to measure commitment and the other variables (investment size, satisfaction and comparison of alternatives) that lead to commitment in the relationship. Rusbult has developed the ‘Investment Model Scale’ to overcome this problem . They have shown it to be high in both reliability and validity in the measurement of these variables , and have shown to be suitable for a wide variety of different populations . One potential problem is that the scale relies on self-report measures which often have problems with respondents wishing themselves to be presented in a good light. However, it would be extremely difficult to measure such a subjective state as commitment in any other way.
