Theories of romantic relationships: Social exchange theory Flashcards
Who were the psychologists who proposed the social exchange theory?
The psychologists who proposed the social exchange theory were Thibault and Kelley
What did Thibault and Kelley state in their social exchange theory?
Thibault and Kelley stated relationships are based on the economic assumptions of exchange.
People try to minimise losses and maximise gains. This is the minimax principle.
Humans judge relationships based on what it brings them, so profitable relationships continue and unprofitable relationships will fail.
Additionally relationships can be ‘costly’ in terms of time, stress, energy, compromise and so on.
Therefore investment of time in a relationship means there is an inability to use your resources elsewhere.
What are two ways that we can measure gains/profits of a relationship?
Comparison level and Comparison level for alternatives
What is the comparison level way to measure the gains/profits of a relationship?
The comparison level is the amount of reward that you believe you deserve to get in a relationship.
This is influenced by the experiences of previous relationships and social norms that are considered to be an appropriate level of reward within that culture
Self esteem levels may also affect this
What is the comparison level for alternatives way of measuring the gains/profits of a relationship?
The comparison level for alternatives is about assessing whether we think there are greater gains in alternative relationships or from being alone in our current relationship.
What are the four stages that Thibault and Kelley described to outline how relationships develop?
1) The sampling stage
2) The bargaining stage
3) The commitment stage
4) The institutionalization stage
What is the sampling stage of the social exchange theory?
The sampling stage involves people exploring the rewards and costs of social exchanges in relationships through observing them in others or experimenting in our non - romantic relationships
What is the bargaining stage of the social exchange theory?
The bargaining stage refers to the start of the relationship where couples begin to exchange rewards and costs, identifying and negotiating what is most important
What is the institutionalization stage of the social exchange theory?
The institutionalization stage is when the partners are now settled down because the norms of the relationship have now been established
What is the commitment stage of the social exchange theory?
The commitment stage is the stage where the relationship becomes more stable, which incurs and increase of rewards and a decrease in costs, as a result increasing attraction between partners
What is a strength of the social exchange theory? (couples + questionnaires + support predictions)
Psychologists had homosexual and heterosexual couples to complete questionnaires measuring relationship commitment and social exchange theory variables.
He found that those partners who were most committed also perceived the most rewards and fewer costs and viewed alternatives as an unattractive option.
These findings increase the validity of the predictions made by the social exchange theory
What is a limitation of the social exchange theory? (assessment of costs/rewards comes after dissatisfaction)
The social exchange theory predicts that when the costs outweigh the rewards and when alternatives become an attractive option, we become dissatisfied and unhappy in our relationships. However, other psychologists dispute this by arguing, we only start assessing costs/rewards and consider alternative options after becoming dissatisfied with our relationship. This suggests that considering costs/alternatives is caused by dissatisfaction rather than the reverse.
What is a limitation of the social exchange theory? (unsuitable for explaining all types of relationships)
Clark and Millis argue that exchange relationships may involve profit (e.g work colleagues) but communal relationships (romantic partners) involve giving and receiving of rewards without thinking of profit. At the start of a romantic relationship tallying of exchange might be viewed with some suspicion and not ideal. This suggests that the SET may not provide a suitable explanation for all types of relationships
What is a limitation of the social exchange theory? (key concepts are hard to quantify)
The key concepts of SET are difficult to quantify. Research students tend to operationalise rewards and costs superficially (e.g money) but in reality rewards and costs are difficult to define and are subjectively judged. Also, it is unclear what the values of CL and CLalt must be before dissatisfaction threatens a relationship. This is a key issue in understanding relationship breakdown. This inability to accurately quantify the key concepts of SET make it very difficult to produce valid research evidence
What is a limitation of the social exchange theory? ()
Many people criticise the social exchange theory as it suggests that humans keeps score in their relationships, making them appear selfish. While some individuals may be the kind to keep score, many others will maintain relationships for other reasons, such as mutual respect and trust. This suggests that the theory does not apply to all relationships universally
