Theories of Romantic Relationships: Social Exchange Theory AO3 Flashcards
SET doesn’t outline the direction of Cause & Effect
How?
By stating that dissatisfaction occurs when costs outweigh rewards or when alternatives become more attractive
Argyle points out that we don’t constantly measure r&c nor do we constantly consider alternatives - we only begin to do this once we are dissatisfied
Whose research supports that SET doesn’t outline the direction of cause and effect?
What did they find?
Miller’s Research
Found that ppts that rated themselves in highly committed RR’s spent less time looking at images of attractive people - this showed also to be a good predictor to whether the RR would continue 2 months later
By SET not accounting for the direction of cause and effect, what does this do to the theory?
Lowers its Reliability
Why is it a weakness that SET ignores Equity?
As it is a central concern for CL - so by neglecting equity SET is limited as it can’t account for a significant proportion of its findings
What is an alternative theory for SET that may be better?
The Equity Theory b/c there is much more research to support it and presents the view that equity is more imp than rewards and costs
What do Clark and Mills argue that SET fails to distinguish?
It doesn’t distinguish the difference between exchange relationships and communal relationships
Why is it a problem that SET fails to distinguish between types of relationships?
It provides the assumption that reciprocal activities (to do with r&c) are constantly monitored - this poses a question what type of commitment there is in the RR
