Rusbults Investment Model

Question 1

Outline- What is the investment model

Answer 1

Commitment level (what rusbult suggests is the most important thing for a long lasting relationship) is made up of:

• satisfaction level
• comparison of alts
• investment size- made up of extrinsic and intrinsic investment.

Question 2

Outline- relationship maintenance mechanism

Answer 2

Commitment is expressed in everyday maintenance behaviours according to the model:

• accommodation (don’t engage in tit-for-tat but act to promote the relationship)
• willingness to sacrifice
• forgiveness
• positive illusions (unrealistically positive about their partner)

Question 3

Outline- satisfaction

Answer 3

• when a relationship appears to have many rewards and few costs it’s seen to be satisfactory

Question 4

Outline- comparison for alts

Answer 4

• where we ask ourselves can we do better with anyone else?

- in this model the criteria is to think that you can’t do better with anyone else.

Question 5

Evaluation- Agnew (2003)

Answer 5

Support
- reviewed 52 studies from 1970s-1999 (meta analysis)
- 11,000 participants
- 5 countries
Found- satisfaction, comparison for alts, and investment size all predicted commitment level.
-also most committed were most Long lasting and most stable

Question 6

Evaluation- Agnew and goodfriend (2008)

Answer 6

Limitation

• pointed out there’s more to investment than just resources you’ve already put into the relationship
• at the beginning there’s barely any investment but they can still be very committed because of the idea of plans for the future

Question 7

Outline- extrinsic investment

Answer 7

Resources that previously didn’t feature in the relationship such as:

• children
• house you bought together
• memories

Question 8

Outline- intrinsic investment

Answer 8

• resources we put directly into the relationship such as:
• money
• possessions
• energy
• emotion
• self disclosure