Theories Of Romantic Relationships - Rusbult’s Investment Model Of Commitment (relationships)

Question 1

What are the factors that contribute towards Commitment?

Answer 1

Satisfaction
Comparison with Alternatives
Investment

If there are high levels of satisfaction, alternatives are unattractive and investment in relationship is increasing = more likely to feel committed

Question 2

What is satisfaction?

Answer 2

Based on the Comparison Level from Social Exchange, where the rewards outweigh the costs in a relationship

Each partner is satisfied if they feel they are getting more out of the relationship than they expect, e.g based on past relationship experience

Question 3

What is Comparison with Alternatives?

Answer 3

Where a partner will compare the rewards and costs they have in their relationship to other relationships to see if they could gain more profit
-> alternatives may also include not being in a relationship at all

Question 4

What is investment? + the 2 types?

Answer 4

Investment - Anything that a partner may lose from a relationship if it were to end

Intrinsic - resources put directly into relationship, may be tangible such as money/possessions or intangible such as energy, emotions, self disclosure, etc.

Extrinsic - resources that did not previously feature in relationship, but now strongly associated with it, tangibles such as a shared home, children, shared car and intangibles such as memories

Question 5

Why did Rusbult argue satisfaction is a contributory factor to commitment?

Answer 5

It can help to explain why partners who are dissatisfied in a relationship choose to stay, (because they are committed) e.g if their investment level is increasing or high then they will work harder to repair/maintain relationship so resources don’t go to waste

Question 6

What are Relationship Maintenance Mechanisms?

Answer 6

Mechanisms partners use to keep the relationship going:

Accommodation- promote relationships, instead of focusing on rewards and costs

Willingness to Sacrifice- putting partners interests first

Forgiveness- willingness to forgive both minor and serious mistakes

(Cognitive element) - Positive Illusions- being unrealistically positive about partners qualities

(Cognitive element) - Ridiculing Alternatives- being negative about tempting alternatives and others relationships

Question 7

Strengths

Answer 7

+ Research Support- Le and Agnew, reviewed 52 studies, 11,000 pps from 5 countries (longitudinal), found satisfaction, comparison with alt and investment all predicted commitment levels + relationships where commitment was strongest = most stable and lasted longest
-> Applied for both men and women in all cultures + hetero and homosexual relationships
Therefore, increasing validity as universally important

+ Real life application- Rusbult and Martz, studied domestically abused women at a shelter and found those who had the greatest investment and fewer alternatives were most likely to return to their partner, showing how those who are dissatisfied may still be committed
-> enhancing how satisfaction is a contributory factor to commitment

Question 8

Limitations

Answer 8

• Majority of research is based on self report, may be vulnerable to bias and social desirability = individuals may lie, in order to make their relationships seem more committed and therefore appealing.
  -> Lack internal validity
• Model is too simplistic - Goodfriend and Agnew, suggests the model does not consider future plans within a relationship and suggests partners are committed because they want their future plans to work out.
  -> Therefore, model fails to assess complexity of investment and how plans for the future influence commitment