Theories Of Relationships: Social Exchange Theory

Question 1

AO1:

Thibault and Kelly (1959)

Answer 1

Reflects economic exchange, minimax principal of minimising costs and maximising gains.

Question 2

AO1:

SET definition

Answer 2

Theory of how a relationship develops, acts out self interest in exchanging rewards and costs.

Question 3

AO1:

Comparison Level

Answer 3

Amount of reads you feel you deserve, measures profit against it, develops from previous relationships and social norms.

Question 4

AO1:

Self-esteem

Answer 4

High self esteem has higher CL

Question 5

AO1:

Comparison with alternatives

Answer 5

CLalt is comparison of rewards on different relationships, depends on current relationship.

Question 6

AO1:

Stages of development

Answer 6

Sampling, bargaining, commitment, institutionalisation.

Question 7

AO3:

SET concepts

Answer 7

Difficult to quantify, can differ with individual differences, decreases scientific credibility.

Question 8

AO3:

Artificial research

Answer 8

Supporting research is with strangers, real partners decrease validity.

Question 9

AO3:

Rusbult and Martz (1995)

Answer 9

Practical application for explanation of abusive relationships.

Question 10

AO3:

Moghaddam (1998)

Answer 10

Economic theories have culture bias, only applied to western, decreases generalisability.

Question 11

AO3:

Causation

Answer 11

Argyle (1987) can’t be sure if we notice dissatisfaction due to costs or costs due to dissatisfaction.

Question 12

AO3:

Clark and Mills (2011)

Answer 12

Fails to distinguish between different types of relationships e.g. Friendships or romantic, limited explanation.

Question 13

AO3:

Simpson et al (1990)

Answer 13

Partners gave lower rating for CLalt if they were in a relationship, supporting evidence, increases validity.

Question 14

AO3:

Reductionist

Answer 14

Cost and reward analysis is too simple for complex relationships, lacks explanatory power.