Rusbult’s investment model

Question 1

Who proposed the model

Answer 1

Rusbult et al 2011

Question 2

commitment

Answer 2

Commitment is the main psychological factor that maintains relationships
Partners are committed because they have made an investment

Question 3

satisfaction

Answer 3

factor 1
Satisfying relationship has many rewards and few costs (i.e. profitable)

Question 4

comparison with alternatives

Answer 4

Factor 2
Relationship compares favourable with possible alternatives (comparison level).

Question 5

investment

Answer 5

Factor 3
Investment size is the extent of the resources we have put into the relationship and which would be lost if the relationship ended

Investments can be intrinsic and extrinsic

Question 6

intrinsic example

Answer 6

Money and tangibles such as effort, possessions

Question 7

extrinsic example

Answer 7

Mutual friends and intangibles such as shared memories

Question 8

Satisfaction versus commitment

Answer 8

Commitment is main psychological factor with satisfaction as a contributory factor

Question 9

Relationship maintenance mechanisms

Answer 9

Willingness to sacrifice, putting partner’s interests first
Forgiveness, pardoning serious transgressions
Accommodation, willingness to sacrifice, forgiveness, positive illusions, ridiculing alternatives

Question 10

eval - research support

Answer 10

P - Strength as support from meta-analysis by Le and Agnew
E - 52 studies reviewed from late 1970s to 1999 included 11,000 participants from five countries
E - satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment size all predicted relationship commitment and when commitment was greatest relationship was most stable and lasted the longest, true for men and women, across cultures and homosexual and heterosexual relationships
L - validity to Rusbult’s claim

P - strong correlations
E - does not allow us to conclude that factors identified by model cause commitment in a relationship
E - could be the more commitment you feel towards your partner, the more investment you are willing to make in the relationship, so direction of causality may be the reverse of that suggested by the model
L - not clear that the model has identified the causes of commitment rather than factors that are associated with it

Question 11

eval - explanation of violence

Answer 11

P - strength as explanation of relationships that involve intimate partner violence
E - Rusbult and Martz studied domestically abused women at a shelter and found that those most likely to return to an abuse partner reported having greatest investment and fewest attractive alternatives
E - these women dissatisfied but still committed
L - shows that satisfaction alone cannot explain this

Question 12

eval - simplistic

Answer 12

P - limitation as it can be seen as it views investment in a simplistic one-dimensional way
E - Goodfriend and Agnew - more to investment that just resources - early stages partners have very few actual investments - extended model by including investments in future plans
E - motivation to commit because they cherish plans for the future
L - original model is limited because neglects true complexity of investment, especially how planning for the future influences commitment

Question 13

eval - self-report

Answer 13

P - supported by self-report models
E - self-report can be influenced by biases and subjective beliefs of respondents
E - may be appropriate because what determines commitment is not objective in reality
L - what may matter move is what a person believes and perceives so many improve credibility