Theories of romantic relationships: RUSBULT'S INVESTMENT MODEL

Question 1

Rusbult et al (2011)

Answer 1

• extension of SET
• committment depends on 3 factors:
  1. Satisfaction - individuals compares rewards + costs and are satisfied if they are getting more rewards out of relationship than costs
  2. Comparison with alternatives- individuals question whether there would be more benefits in entering a new alternative relationship or no romantic relationship at all
  3. Investment- this refers to anything we would loose if relationship ended.
  intrinsic investment- resources put into the relationship such as money or emotions
  extrinsic investment- resources associated with the relationship such as shared property and children
• if couples are satisfied the alternatives are not attractive and investment is high, then they are more likely to be strongly committed to the relationship

Question 2

Maintenace mechanisms for committed partners:

Answer 2

• couples use this to keep their relationship going
  1. Accomodation- promoting the relationship
  2. Willingness to sacrifice- putting their partners’ needs first
  3. Cognitive element- thinking about each other and alternatives in specific and predictable ways
  4. Forgiveness
  5. Positive illusions- overally and unrealistically positive about their parners
  6. Ridiculing alternatives (derogation of alternatives)- negative about tempting alternatives or other people’s relationship

Question 3

Evaluation

Answer 3

+ Supporting evidence
- Correlational studies
+ Application to real life
+ Self report methods
+ Real life application

Question 4

+ Supportive evidence

Answer 4

Le and Agnew (2003)
* reviewed 52 studies involving 11,000 ppts from 5 countries, between 1970s and 1999
* found that all 3 factors identified by this model predicted committment and therefore stability in romantic relationships
* applied to both heterosexual and homosexual relationships
* suggests theres validity for the theory’s claim that these factors are universally important features of romantic relationships

Question 5

- Correlational studies

Answer 5

• reserach above is correlational
• we cannot be sure of cause and effect (these factors cause greater commitment)
• direction of causality could be reverse
• for example, it could be that strongly committed partners are more likely to invest in their relationshsips

Question 6

+ Application to real life

Answer 6

• theory may be useful in explaining abusive relaationships
• Rusbult and Martz (1995) - studied domestically abused women at a shelter and found that those most likely to return an abusive partner reported having made the greatest investment and having the fewest attractive alternatives, despite feeling disatisfied
• shows that satisfaction on its own cannot explain why people stay in relationships and has to be combined with commitment and investment

Question 7

+ Self-report methods

Answer 7

• supportive evidence is based on self-report methods
• self-report techniques are an appropriate method of satisfaction and perceptions of investments are subjective judgements
• the use of this technique is more of a valid test of theory than experimental techniques

Question 8

+ Real life application

Answer 8

a lot of the research evidence gathered to support this model comes from real romantic relationships, meaning that the evidence has a good degree of external validity as it relates to commitment level in existing relationships