social exchange theory Flashcards
Tibult and Kelley
created the SET
SET
economic theory of how relationships form and develop
assumes romantic partners act out of self-interest in exchanging rewards an costs
reward examples
compliments
gifts
being cooked for
cost examples
time
money
stress
comparison level
amount of reward you believe you deserve to get
where is comparison level developed from
experience of previous rel giving expectations
social norms determining what is reasonable level of reward- social media
comparison level for alternatives
SET predicts we’ll stay in our current rel only if we believe it to be more rewarding than alternatives
4 stages of relationship development
sampling
bargaining
commitment
institutionalisation
sampling stage
exploring rewards and costs of SE by experimenting in our own relationships/ by observing others do so
bargaining stage
marks beginning of rel, inv setting up rewards and costs, negotiating and identifying what is most profitable
commitment stage
sources of costs and rewards known and predictable
rel more stable as rewards increase and costs lessen
intitutionalisation stage
partners settled down as norms of rel in terms of rewards and cost firmly established
A03
inappropriate assumptions underlying SET- Clark and Mills
fails to distinguish bw types of rel
exchange-collegures- inv social ex but communal-rom partners- giving and rec rewards w/out keeping score
faulty assumptions, cx account for maj of rom rels
A03
direction of cause and effect
sugg disat sets in after costs outweigh rewards
argyle, miller
cx account for direction of causation in the outcome
A03
Argyle
we dx measure costs and rewards nor consider att until we’re dissat
A03
Miller
ppl who rated themselves committed spent less time looking rac
committed couples ignored even the most attractive alternative
A03
SET ignore equity
focus of complimentary neglects this crucial factor
research supp for role of equity-
limited expl cx account for sig prop of research findings on rels
A03
Artificial research
tasks and conditions
common procedure- 2 strangers, game playing scenario
snapshot studies cx acc 4 properties that emerge from rel over time- trust
unrealistic- poor internal validity
A03
Strength
.
A03
Measuring SET concepts
rewards and costs defined superficially- money
unclear values of CL and CLalts must be b4 dissat threatens a rel
impossible to measure in valid, reliable way
