theories of romantic relationships - equity theory Flashcards
equity theory
economic theory which developed in response to a significant criticism of social exchnage theory
maximising rewards and minimising costs are importnant
social exhange theory fials to take into accoutn the eed most people have for balance rather than profit in a realtionhsip
the role of equity
fairness
Walster
both partners level of profit (rewards minus costs) is roughly the same
when there is a lack of equity then one partner overbenefits and the other underbenefits - dissatisfaction and unhappiness
overbenfitted partner - feel guilt discomfort and shame
underbenfitted partner - anger hostlitiy
equity and equality
not the size or amount of the rewards and cost thta metter
its the ratio of the two to each other
so if one partner puts alot into the relaitnship but at the same time gets alot out of it then they are liekly to feel satisfied
satisfying realtionships are marked by negotiatiosn to ensure equity and that rewards are distributed fairly
consequences of inequity
a partner who percives inequity will become distressed and dissatfied with the realtionshop if it contirnues for long enough
greater the ineuqty the greater the dissatisfaction
applied ot both overbenfitted and underbenefftited partner
changes in percieved equity
what makes us most dissatisfied is a change in the level of percieved equity as time goes on
example - start of a rlationship it may feel perfectly natural ot contribute more than you recieve
but as the realtioship develops in such a way that you continue to put more into the relationship and get less out of it this will not feel as satisfying as it did before
dealing with inequity
underbennefitted partner is usually motivated to make the realtionship more equitable as long as they believe it is possible to do so and the realtionshp is salvageable
more unfair the relationship feels the harder they will work to restore eqity
another possible oiutcome - cognitive rather than behavioural
they will revise their perceotions of rewards and costs so that the relaitonship feels more equitable to them even if nthing actually changes
what was once seen as a cost eslrier is now accepted as the nrorm
strength
research support
evidence from stduies of real world realtionships that confirm equity theory as a more valid explanation than social exchage theiry
example - Mary Unte et al
carried out a survey of 118 recently married couples measuring equity eith teo self report sclaes
aged between 16 and 45 and had been together for two years before marrying
foudnt hat couples who cosnidered their relationship equitable wre more satsisfied than those who saw themse;es as overbenefttign or underbenefitting
confirms that equity is a majoir concern of romantic couples and is linked with satsfaction - a central predction of the equity theiry
limitation
culutral limitatons
may not aplly to all cultures
Aumer-Ryan et al foudn that htere are cultural differences in the linke btween equity and satsfaction
couples from an individiaulistic culture (US) considered their realtionshops to be most satisfying when the realtionshop was equitable
collectivist culture (Jamaica) were most satsified when they were overbenfitting - true for bith men and women so cant be explaniend by gender differences
suggest that the theory is limited becuase it only applied to some cultures
limitation
individual differences
not all partners in romantic relaitomnships are concerned about ahciving equitu
Huseman et al suggest that soem people are less concerned about equity than the norm
descirbv some partners as benevolents who are prepared to contribute more the the realtioship than they get out of it (underbenefit)
others are entitleds who believ they deserve to overbenfot and accept it without feelign distressed or guilty
in bith cases indicualds have less concern about equity than the htoeyr predicts
shows that a desire for equity vaires form one indivudal to abother and is not a universal feature fo romantic realtionshops
