Rusbult's Investemnt Model

Question 1

What is the Investment Model?

Answer 1

• stability of a relationship over time is determined by how committed the individuals are to the relationship.

Question 2

What does the Commitment in a Relationship depend on?

Answer 2

• satisfaction
• comparison with alternatives
• investment

Question 3

Explain what is meant by Satisfaction?

Answer 3

How well the relationship fulfils the person’s needs.

Question 4

Explain what is meant by Comparison with Alternatives.

Answer 4

To what extent the person thinks their needs could be better fulfilled in another relationship or by not being in a relationship.

Question 5

Explain what is meant by Investment.

Answer 5

How much the person feels they have put into the relationship.

Question 6

What did Le and Agnew (2003) do?

Answer 6

• meta analysis of 52 studies.
• each study explored different components of the investment model.
• total sample of 11000 participants from 5 countries.

Question 7

What did Le and Agnew (2003) find?

Answer 7

• all studies showed that the 3 components were highly correlated with commitment level.
• satisfaction level was strongest in the influence of commitment.

Question 8

Evaluating: Explain one strength of the Investment Model.

Answer 8

• although it’s mainly self-report techniques, this is beneficial because of the need for participants opinions and beliefs.

Question 9

Evaluating: Explain one weakness of the Investment Model.

Answer 9

Gives correlational data instead of causal data: commitment at the beginning of a relationship may cause the person to view coa and their investment levels later on.

Question 10

Evaluating: Explain the real world application of the investment Model.

Answer 10

• highlights features of the relationship that would explain why a victim of abuse would remain in a relationship as they may see a lack of alternatives or have invested too much.