Theories of romantic relationships: Investment and Breakdown Flashcards
What is Rusbults investment model
way of understanding why people persist in some relationships but not others
- Relationships persist because of the ties that bind them together (investment) and the absence of a better option
What factors do commitment depend on?
Satisfaction
Comparison with alternatives
Investment
What is satisfaction?
a satisfying relationship is judged by comparing costs and benefits and its seen as profitable if it has many rewards.
Each partner is generally satisfied if they’re getting more from a relationship than they expect based on previous relationships and social norms
What is comparison with alternatives
The extent which an individuals most important needs might be fulfilled outside the current relationship
What is investment?
anything we would lose in the relationship were to end
Investment size is a measure of all the resources attached to the relationship which would diminish in value or be lost (time, friends, possessions)
What is the commitment level?
The likelihood that an individual will persist in their current relationship.
- a product of high satisfaction and investment and low-quality of alternatives
What are strengths of Rusbults investment model
- supporting evidence from Le and Agnew
- real life applications
What are limitations of Rusbults investment model
- direction of causality
- overlooks future plants in a relationship
Evaluate supporting evidence from Le and Agnew as a strength of the investment
Evaluate real world applications as a strength of investment model
Evaluate direction of causality as a limitation of the investment model
Evaluate overlooking the future as a limitation of the investment model
What is Ducks model of relationship breakdown?
End of a relationship is a process that takes time across 4 stages. Each phase is marked by one partner or both reaching a threshold - a point where their perception of the relationship changes
What are the stages of relationship breakdown
Intra-psychic phase
Dyadic phase
Social phase
Grave Dressing phase
What is the Intrapsychic phase
focus is on cognitive process occuring within the individual
- they feel burdened by feelings of resentment and a sense of being underbenefited
- they wont say anything but express their dissatifaction in other ways (diary, social withdrawl)
What is the Dyadic phase?
- focus is on the interpreational processes between partners
- there comes a point where they cant avoid talking about their relationship
- involves a series of confrontations where dissatisfactions are aired
- guilt and anger may resurface and we may discover that the partner also has concerns
- two possible outcomes, a disre to break up or repair it
What is the social phase?
- is now harder for partners to deny that there’s a problem
- breakup is made public partners will seek support and gossip is traded
- some friends provide reinforcement and others will blame the other partner
- some hasten the end of the relationship by providing previously secret info
- point of no return
What is the grave dressing phase?
- the aftermath and partners attempt to justify their actions- each partner must represent themselves as trustworthy and loyal to attract a new partner
