theories of romantic relationships Flashcards
What are the 4 theories of romantic relationships?
Equity theory
Social exchange theory
Rusbult’s investment model
Ducks phase model
What are the main assumptions of equity theory? (4)
People want relationships to be fair and equal
Partners need to experience a balance between their rewards and costs>profit is the same
No partner wants to overbenefit (more profit) or underbenefit (less profit)
Fairness=satisfaction
Unfairness=dissatisfaction
How will the under benefitting partner feel?
How will the over benefitting partner feel?
Who would feel the most dissatisfaction?
Anger, hostility, resentment
Guilt, discomfort, shame
Under benefitting partner
What are 2 ways a partner can deal with inequity?
Work harder to try to restore equity
Cognitiely revise their perceptions of what counts as rewards and costs>makes it seem like its equitable, but nothings really changed
A strength of equity theory is that there’s research support
PETF
Psychologists found that couples who considered their relationship equitable>more satisfied than those who reported themselves as under benefitting or overbenefitting
F: Study used self report measures, GOOD THING as we want the persons own thoughts
A weakness of equity theory is that there’s culture bias
PET
Individualistic culture- satisfied when equity
Collectivist culture- satisfied when overbenefitting
This cannot be explained through gender differences this was true with men and women
T: Limited theory
One weakness of equity theory is that there’s gender differences
PET
E: Psychologist found that women tend to be more disturbed when under-benefitting
T: Highlights gender differences between the genders, we need to conduct research separately to avoid gender bias
One limitation of equity theory is that there’s individual differences
PET
E: Psychologists found 2 personality types
Benevolents (happy to underbenefit)
Entitleds (overbenefit)
T: This theory cannot explain all individual experience of relationships, limiting explanatory power
According to the social exchange theory, what do individuals want to maximise?
How is this achieved?
Profit
Maximising rewards (positives of relationship e.g. sex) and minimising costs (negatives of relationship e.g. arguments) aka ‘Minimax principle’
What is the comparison level in social exhange theory?
Amount of reward you believe you deserve to get from the current relationship
What 3 things influence the comparison level?
Self esteem- high=high expectations
Social norm- reinforced by media, if their cl is equal or better than what they experienced in prevous relationships
Previous relationship- people consider if relationships worth persuing
What is the comparison level with alternatives in social exchange theory?
Perception of whether other potential relationships/being single would be more rewarding than being in their current relationship
What influences our comparison level with alternatives in social exchange theory?
The state of our current relationship
There are usually plenty more fish on the sea but being in satisfying relationship means you dont really see the alternatives
What is Thibut and Kelley’s 4 stage model in social exchange theory?
PET
- Sampling- partners explore different rewards and costs
- Bargaining- partners exchange rewards and costs to find the most profitable situation
- Commitment- relationship is stable, rewards and costs become similar
- Institutionalism- rewards and costs firmly established
One weakness of social exchange theory is that its reductionist
PET
E: Reduces complex phenomenea of romantic relationships to rewards and costs
T: Cannot account for relatiobships where profit isnt taken into account e.g. those who stay in abusive relationships=low rewards, high costs
Holisitic approach is more useful
One strength of the social exchange theory is that there’s research support
PETF
E: Psychologist asked gay, lesbian and hetro couples to complete questionnaire measuring relationship commitment, found that more rewards+less costs>more satisfaction
T: Increases SET validity
F: Uses a range of sexuality, can be generalised to modern society, ^generalisability
One strength of the social exchange theory is that there’s real world application
PETF
E: Couples therapy, encouraged to increase the amount of positive exchanges, decreasing negative ones
T: Improves QoL
One strength of social exchange theory is that it DOES account for individual differences
PETC
E: Theory states rewards and costs are subjective and mean different things to different people
E.g. something may be rlly rewarding to one person, not the other
T: Usefulness
C: Rewards and costs are subjective, hard to define, cannot operationalise, not scientic (>)
What did Rusbult’s investment model focus on
What is the most influential factor in maintaining relatiobships
What is this influenced by?
Extending the social exchange theory
Commitment (partners desire to continue a relatiobship as it has a viable long term future)
Influenced by satisfaction (fulfilment of ones wishes), comparison with alternatives, investment (anything that would be lost if relationship ended)
What determines satisfaction?
Profitable with few costs, many rewards
What does investment act as to leaving a relationship?
In what 2 ways can this be?
Deterrent (block)
Intrinsic- resources put directly into relationship e.g. money
Extrinsic- new resources put in together that are shared e.g. house
What are 5 relationship maintenance mechanisms ?
Explain
(rusbult)
Accommodation- not engaging in retaliation, but doing whats right
Willingness to sacrifice- putting your partners interests before your own
Forgiveness- forgiving ur partner for mistakes
Positive illusions- thinking and talking about your partner in an unrealistic positive way
Ridiculing alternatives- thinking and talking negatively about other alternatives/relationships
One limitation of all the explanatios is that there’s alternative explanations
PET
Equity theory
Social exchange theory
Rusbult’s investment model
Ducks phase model
T: Limited explanation
One strength of Rusbult’s investment model is that there’s research support
PET
E: Psychologist looked at 52 studies in: satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment size
Predicted relationship comment with this
Strong commitment=long lasting relationship
T: credibility
F: Tested with LGBTQIA, different cultures=representative
