Theories Of Romantic Relationships

Question 1

What are the 4 theories of romantic relationships

Answer 1

• Social exchange theory
• Equity theory
• Rusbults investment model of commitment
• Ducks phase model of relationship breakdown

Question 2

What is the social exchange theory

Answer 2

Economic theory that suggests relationships involve the exchange of resources. In a relationship, individuals attempt to maximise their benefits and minimise costs (minimax). Outcome = reward - costs. Once the relationship starts costing more than its benefits, the relationship is likely to breakdown, as they are no longer in profit

Question 3

What is Comparison Level (CL)

Answer 3

The amount of reward that you think you deserve to get. It develops from our previous relationships which feed into our expectations of the current one, it is also influenced by social norms. We consider a relationship worth pursuing if our CL is high. Link to self esteem

Question 4

What is comparison level for alternatives (CLalt)

Answer 4

Provides wider context for current relationship. Do we believe we could gain greater rewards and fewer costs from another relationship? Is the grass greener? Duck - the CLalt we adopt will depend on the state of our current relationship

Question 5

What are the 4 stages through which relationships develop

Answer 5

• Sampling stage
• Bargaining stage
• Commitment stage
• Institutionalisation stage

Question 6

What is the sampling stage

Answer 6

We explore the rewards and costs of social exchange by experimenting with them in our own relationships, or by observing others doing so

Question 7

What is the bargaining stage

Answer 7

This marks the beginning of a relationship, when partners start exchanging various rewards and costs, negotiating and identifying what is most profitable

Question 8

What is the commitment stage

Answer 8

as time goes on, the sources of costs and rewards become more predictable and the relationship becomes more stable as rewards increase and costs lessen

Question 9

What is the institutionalisation stage

Answer 9

the partners are now settled down because the norms of the relationship, in terms of rewards and costs, are firmly established

Question 10

evaluations for social exchange theory

Answer 10

• research evidence - Rusbult and Zembroat
• practical applictions - couples therapy
• costs may not be important all all stages - maintenance + breakdown
• culturally biased
• individual differences should be taken into account

Question 11

What is the equity theory

Answer 11

Based on the idea of fairness. Emphasises the need for partners to experience a balance between their cost and their benefit. Dissatisfaction occurs if they are over or under benefitting (inequity). Inequity isn’t inequality, people hold subjective views on inputs and outputs of themselves and their partner

Question 12

What are the four factors associated with equity theory

Answer 12

• Profit - rewards maximised, costs minimised
• Distribution - trade offs + compensations are negotiated to achieve fairness
• Dissatisfaction - greater perceived unfairness = greater dissatisfaction
• Realignment - restoring to former state

Question 13

evaluations for the equity theory

Answer 13

• Research evidence - Dainton
• Cross cultural support - Yum et al
• Cause and effect issues - Clarke
• neglects to consider individual differences - Huseman
• Practical applications - couples therapy to focus on fairness

Question 14

What is Rusbults investment model of commitment

Answer 14

Satisfaction Level
—
Quality of alternatives — Commitment level — relationship stability
—
Investment Size

Question 15

What is satisfaction (high)

Answer 15

Based on concept of CL. A satisfying relationship is judged by comparing rewards and costs and is seen to be profitable if it has many rewards and few costs. Each partner is generally satisfied if they are getting more out of the relationship than they expect based on previous relationships and social norms

Question 16

What is comparison with alternatives (low)

Answer 16

A CLalt results in romantic partners asking themselves ‘could my needs be better met outside of my current relationship?’. Alternatives don’t just include relationships with other people, but the possibility of having no romantic relationship at all

Question 17

What is investment size?

Answer 17

Rusbult et al. Realised that CL + CLalt derived from SET are not enough to explain commitment. If they were then many more relationships would end as soon as outweigh. Therefore a third factor was introduced.
Investment = anything we would lose if the r/ship were to end
Intrinsic investment = resources put directly into r/ship (e.g. energy)
Extrinsic investment = resources that previously did not feature in the r/ship but are now associated with it (e.g house, kids)

Question 18

What are the maintenance behaviours Rusbult suggested

Answer 18

• Accommodation - a convenient arrangement
• Willingness to Sacrifice - associated with strong commitment
• Forgiveness - deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment towards a person who has harmed you
• Positive illusions - unrealistically favourable attitudes that people have towards others close to them
• Ridiculing alternatives - negative about tempting alternatives and other r/ships

Question 19

What are the three major types of relationship breakdown that Duck identified

Answer 19

• Pre-existing doom
• Mechanical failure
• Sudden death

Question 20

What is a pre-existing doom

Answer 20

The r/ship was doomed to end from the start, could be the result of partners simply being incompatible

Question 21

What is mechanical failure

Answer 21

Partners who are compatible slowly growing apart over a long period of time and decide that things are no longer working (most common cause)

Question 22

What is sudden death

Answer 22

This is where the r/ship suddenly ends. Discovering a partner has cheated or the couple has a huge argument could swiftly end the relationship

Question 23

What are Ducks 5 minor reasons which contribute to relationship dissolution

Answer 23

• predisposing personal factors (bad habits)
• precipitating factors (rivals, boredom)
• lack of skills
• lack of motivation
• lack of maintenance (too much time apart)

Question 24

What are the 4 phase of relationship dissolution (important aspect)

Answer 24

• Intrapsychic
• Dyadic
• Social
• Grave dressing
  (Resurrection phase - Ao3)

Question 25

What is the intrapsychic phase

Answer 25

• focus on partners behaviour
• assess the adequacy of partners performance
• focus on negative aspects of r/ship
• consider costs of withdrawal
• look at benefits
• private dilemma of whether to raise issues or not

Question 26

What is the dyadic phase

Answer 26

• confronts partner over inadequacies
• negotiation of future behaviour
• possible attempt to repair problems
• both assess costs of withdrawal

Question 27

What is the social phase

Answer 27

• negotiate post-relationship dynamic with partner
• gossip in friend/family circles
• face-saving stories are created in case of breakup, blame is attributed
• consideration of social backlash of r/ship breakdown

Question 28

What is the grave dressing phase

Answer 28

• perform ‘getting over it’ activities
• retrospective, reformative post mortem attribution
• publicly distribute own version of breakup

Question 29

evaluations for Ducks relationship breakdown phases

Answer 29

• Evidence to support - Tashiro and Frazier
• Practical applications - prevent r/ship breakdown based on current stage
• Starts once dissatisfaction has started - could ignore crucial points
• may not be universal - Moghaddam

Question 30

Evaluation of Rusbults investment model of commitment

Answer 30

• Research evidence - Le Agnew
• Problems measuring key variables - it is self report
• theoretical issues - oversimplifies idea of investement
• Practical application - couples therapy
• wide application to society - cultural bias not an issue