social exchange theory Flashcards
social exchange theory - thibaut and kelley
likelihood of person staying in relationship is determined by:
- assessment of what they get out of it compared to what they put in
- how the relationship measures up against what they expect and what they may achieve in a different relationship
profit and loss
SET assumes all social behaviour = series of exchanges - individuals attempt to maximise rewards and minimise costs (minimax principle)
people exchange resources with expectation that they’ll earn ‘profit’.
rewards - costs = outcome for relationship - social exchange stresses that commitment to relationship is dependent on profitability of this outcome
comparison level
CL - amount of reward you believe you deserve - develops from experiences of previous relationships and is influenced by social norms
low self esteem - low CL so satisfied with gaining small profit
if judged that potential profit in new relationship exceeds CL, relationship is judged as worthwhile
comparison level for alts
duck - CLalt adopted depends on state of current relationship - if costs of current relationship outweigh rewards, alternatives become more attractive. being in satisfying relationship means you may not even notice alternatives could be available
stages of relationship development
sampling stage - exploring rewards and costs by experimenting with them in own relationships or by watching other do so
bargaining stage - when partners start exchanging various rewards and costs, negotiating and identifying what is most profitable
commitment stage - as time goes on, sources of costs and rewards become predictable and relationship is more stable as rewards increase and costs decrease
institutionalisation stage - partners settled down as norms of relationship in terms of rewards and costs are firmly established
key study - kurdek and schmitt
investigated importance of SE factors in determining relationship quality in 185 couples which compromised of straight and homosexual couples. each couple completed questionnaire without discussing answers with each other
for all couples, greater relationship satisfaction was associated with: perception of many benefits of current relationship (CL) and seeing alternatives to current relationship less attractive (CLalt)
findings show factors that predict satisfaction in same sex relationships are same as ones that predict satisfaction in straight relationships
evaluation - direction of cause and effect
SET argues dissatisfaction sets in when suspected that costs outweigh rewards or alternatives are more attractive.
argyle - dont measure costs and rewards in relationship or constantly consider attractiveness of alternatives until we’re dissatisfied with relationship.
miller - people who rated themselves as being in highly committed relationship spend less time looking at images of attractive people so ignored even most attractive alternatives. SET cant account for direction of causation in this outcome
evaluation - SET ignores equity
much research support for role of equity in relationships and view that it’s more important than just balance of rewards and costs. neglect of this factor means SET is limited explanation which cannot account for significant proportion of research findings on relationships.
