social exchange theory

Question 1

who proposed social exchange theory?

Answer 1

Thibault and Kelly (1959)

Question 2

define social exchange theory

Answer 2

• behaviour in relationships reflects economic assumptions of exchange. act out of self-interest in exchanging rewards and costs.
• we try to minimise losses and maximise gains (minimax principle)
• judge our satisfaction in a relationship in terms of profit it yields (rewards minus costs)
• satisfying and committed relationship is maintained when rewards exceed costs and potential alternatives are less attractive than the current relationship

Question 3

rewards and costs

Answer 3

• subjective and can change over course of relationship
• rewards. beneficial things e.g. companionship, sex and emotional support
• Blau (1964). relationships can be ‘expensive’, so costs include time, stress, energy, compromise, etc.
• opportunity costs. investment of time and energy in current relationship uses resources you can’t invest elsewhere

Question 4

how do we measure profit/satisfaction in a romantic relationship?

Answer 4

comparison level and comparison level for alternatives

Question 5

comparison level

Answer 5

• the amount of reward that you believe you deserve
• developed by previous relationships which cause expectations
• influenced by social norms that determine what is widely considered to be a reasonable level of reward. often reflected in books and films etc.
• over time CL changes as acquire more ‘data’ to set it by aka relationship experience
• consider a relationship worth pursuing if our CL is high
• self-esteem. low self-esteem low CL and satisfied with gaining just small profit (or even loss).

Question 6

comparison level for alternatives

Answer 6

• provides wider context for current relationship. whether or not we believe we could gain greater rewards and fewer costs from another relationship or alone.
• we will stay in current relationship only if we believe it more rewarding than alternatives
• Duck (1994)- CLalt we adopt depends on state of current relationship. always alternatives, so if the costs of our current relationship outweigh rewards, these become more attractive

Question 7

stages of relationship development

Answer 7

• sampling stage
• bargaining stage
• commitment stage
• institutionalisation stage

Question 8

sampling stage

Answer 8

explore the rewards and costs of social exchange by experimenting with them in our own relationships, or by observing others doing so

Question 9

bargaining stage

Answer 9

beginning of relationship. start exchanging various rewards and costs, negotiating and identifying what is most profitable

Question 10

commitment stage

Answer 10

as time goes on, the sources of costs and rewards become more predictable and the relationship becomes more stable as rewards increase and costs lessen

Question 11

institutionalisation stage

Answer 11

partners now settled down because the norms of the relationship, in terms of rewards and costs, are firmly established

Question 12

strength- research support

Answer 12

Kurdek- homo and hetero questionnaires measuring relationship commitment and SET variables, most commited percieved most rewards and fewest costs, alternatives relatively unattractive. also showed main set concepts predicting commitment independent of each other.

• confirming validity as match predictions
• generalisability, homo couples

Question 13

issue- equity

Answer 13

lots of research support for role of equity. what matters is not only balance of rewards and costs, but partners’ perception that this is fair.
- limited explanation. cannot account for significant proportion of relationship research findings.

Question 14

issue- direction of cause and effect

Answer 14

SET- become dissatisfied AFTER we conclude that costs of relationships outweigh rewards/alts more attractive. these factors cause dissatisfaction.
Argyle- don’t monitor profit or consider alternatives until after we are dissatisfied.
- suggests dissatisfaction causes person to consider costs/alternatives, less validity in explanation

Question 15

limitation- vague concepts

Answer 15

• rewards and costs defined superficially in research to measure, e.g. money
• real-world psychological rewards/costs subjective and harder to define
• most consider loyalty rewarding. but varies among people- polyamorous people.
• asexual people.
• unclear what values of cl and clalt must be before dissatisfaction threatens relationship
• theory difficult to test in valid way. concepts vague and hard to quantify. unsure of validity