social exchange theory Flashcards
Who was the social proposed by?
Thibault and Kelley
What is the social exchange theory
Likelihood of a person staying in a relationship is determined by an assessment of what they get out of the relationship compared to what they put in, and how the relationship measures up against what they expect and what they might achieve in a diff relationship
→ maximise rewards & minimise costs
3 parts of the set
profit and loss
comparison level
comparison level for alternatives
profit and loss (set)
maximise rewards & minimise costs
- rewards: companionship, cared for, sex
- costs: effort, financial investment, time wasted
→ REWARD - COSTS = OUTCOME
-commitment to relationship is dependent on this outcome
Comparison level (set)
= Standard to which all our relationships are judged
→ CL is a product of our previous experiences in other relationships & a general view of expectations
- If we judge potential partner exceeds CL= attractive
- If profit is less than CL = less attractive
→ Someone who prev had an unpleasant relationship will have a v low CL= happy in a poor relationship
→ Good prev experience = leave relationships that don’t meet high expectations
comparison level for alternatives
=person weighs up a potential increase in rewards from a different partner, minus any costs assoc wending the current relationship
.
→ A new relationship will take place of the current one if it’s anticipated profit level is significantly higher
- If current rel overall benefits and costs are percieved as greater than potential rel/being on own = Stay commited
→If alt options are more attr= tempted to leave
AO3: SET
str: Evidence for clfa
lim: problem w cost&benefits
lim: overemphasis on cost&benefits
str: rwa
SET str: evidence for clfa
Sprecher longitudinal study: 101 dating couples at a US uni
found exchange variable most highly assoc w rel commitment was partners CLFA
~Study showed when cL-alt was high, commitment & satisfaction was low.
In both males & females
= Supports SET and applicability of SET to males and females
SET lim: problems w cost and benefits
what might be rewarding for one person may be punishing to another
eg constant attention and praise
→ also what may have been a benefit once can turn into a cost as rel progresses (Littlejohn)
= hard to define what is a reward vs cost
challenges view that all romantic relationships operate in this way
SET lim: overemphasis on cost and benefits
Ignores other factors eg belief system
- some ppl have the belief that if you have committed yourself to someone, you live with the costs
- they may recognise unfavourable ratio, but their relationship standard means they continue to provide benefits
=SET is oversimplified
SET str: rwa
Relationship therapy
Gottman & Levenson found in successful marriages, ratio of pos:neg exchanges was around 5:1 but in unsuccessful it was 1:1 or less
→ Integrated Behavioural Couples Therapy (IBCT) attempts to increase proportion of positive exchanges and decrease proportion of negative →
Christensen treated over 60 distressed Couples using ICBT & found ab 2/3 reported significant improvements
in quality of relationships
