Theories of Romantic Relationship: Equity Theory Flashcards
What is equity theory?
A theory that states that partners strive to achieve fairness in their relationships.
Why might partners produce different amounts of rewards but still be happy in their relationships?
They perceive their amount of profit to be fair.
What is a trade off in equity theory?
Give an example.
A partner may agree to do one thing if the other partner agrees to something else. This makes the relationship fair.
For example, one partner in the relationship may do all of the cooking while the other does all of the cleaning.
What is inequity?
Where one partner over benefits and the other under benefits.
How might changes in perceived equity occur over the length of a relationship?
At the start of the relationship, people usually are happy to give more and receive less. But if this continues throughout the relationship, dissatisfaction can occur.
Why might the under benefitting person start to feel humiliated and resentful towards their partner?
They feel like they are putting lots of effort into the relationship but are not getting much back.
Why might the over benefitting partner start to feel dissatisfied in their relationship?
How might this lead to them trying to save the relationship?
They feel guilty and shameful that they have not put in as much effort as their partner.
Guilt leads to them becoming motivated to put more effort in and save the relationship.
Explain the strength of there being research support for equity theory from Utne.
Which theory is equity theory more valid than?
What research method did Utne use when studying recently married couples who had been together for 2 years before marriage?
Utne found that those who saw their relationship as equitable were more satisfied than those who saw their relationship as…
How does this research support equity theory?
Supporting evidence includes studies on real life relationships that confirm equity theory as more valid than SET. Utne carried out a survey on 118 recently marries couples and measured equity on 2 self-report scales. These husbands and wives were aged between 16 and 45 years and had been together for more than 2 years before marrying. The researchers found that couples who considered their relationship more equitable were more satisfied than those who saw themselves as under or over benefiting. This research confirms a key part of equity theory, increasing the theory’s validity.
Explain the limitation of there being individual differences between romantic partners in relationships.
Not all romantic partners are concerned about e______.
Huseman said some people are benevolents and others are entitleds. What do these words mean?
What does mean about the generalisability of equity theory to all relationships?
Not all partners in romantic relationships are concerned about achieving equity. Huseman suggested that some people are less sensitive to equity than others. He described some partners as benevolents, who are prepared to contribute more to a relationship, and others as entitleds, who believe that they deserve to be over benefitted and accept it without guilt or distress. This shows that equity is not necessarily a universal feature of all relationships.
Explain the limitation of inequity being cause of relationship dissatisfaction rather than an effect.
What did Utne say was the cause of relationship dissatisfaction?
If partners had already started to monitor their equity, what did Grote and Clark say this meant for relationship satisfaction? How might this lead to even more changes in satisfaction?
For example, Utne found that both over benefiting and under benefiting led to dissatisfaction. However, other research shows the opposite direction of cause and effect. Grote and Clark argued that as soon as partners start monitoring each other’s contributions, this already is a sign of dissatisfaction. One dissatisfaction sets in, partners notice inequities and become even more dissatisfied. This therefore suggests that inequity may be an effect of dissatisfaction.
Explain the limitation that equity theory can’t always be explained by research.
Berg and McQuinn did not find that ______ increased as relationship length increased.
Researchers also did not find that relationships that had ended or continued differed in _______.
What other variable may be more important for deepening a relationship? Why?
Therefore the v_______ of equity theory is reduced.
For example, Berg and McQuinn found that equity didn’t increase over time as predicted by the theory. Nor did researchers find that relationships that ended or those that continued differed in terms of equity, which the theory does not predict. Other variables such as self-disclosure were seen as more important. This allows partners to learn more about each other, which some couples see as more rewarding. This undermines the validity of equity theory because it doesn’t play a role in relationship satisfaction predicted.
