theories of romantic RS- Rusbults investement model

Question 1

what holds a RS together

Answer 1

-commitment
-higher liklihood RS persists

Question 2

what are the 3 factors rusbult came up with

Answer 2

-satisfaction
-comaprison w alternatives
-investement size

Question 3

what is the investement model

Answer 3

-economic theory
-further develops from the SET

Question 4

what was rosbults procedure

Answer 4

asked college students (heterosexual) to complete a questionnaire over a 7mnth period
students kept notes on :
-RS satisafction
-quality of alternatives
-investement
-commitment level

Question 5

what is factor 1?

Answer 5

satisafaction
-based on comparison level
-extent to which partner feels the rewards e.g comparisons outweigh the costs e.g conflict
-satisified generally when getting more out of the RS than they expect based on previous exp and social norms

Question 6

what is factor 2?

Answer 6

comparisons with alternatives
-judge if RS w diff partner reduces costs and increase rewards
-alternatives can include possibly no romantic RS at all

Question 7

what is factor 3?

Answer 7

investement
-resources associated w the romantic RS which partners loose if RS ends

Question 8

what are the 2 types of investement

Answer 8

-instrinsic
resources put directly into the RS these may be tnagible such as money and time and intnagible such as emotion and self disclosure

extinsic
-resources not previosuly featured in the RS which are now closely associated with it
tangibles include possessions bought tg e.g house, mutual friends and children
shared memories(intagible)

Question 9

why are investements helpful

Answer 9

if investements increase and satisfaction is high than the RS is likely to continue

Question 10

equation for commitment

Answer 10

-high levels of satisfaction + less attractive alternatives + increased investement = partners will be committed to RS

Question 11

whats the 4th factor?

Answer 11

satisfaction vs commitment
-commitment matters more than satisfaction
-e.g disatisified partner may stay in RS when investement level is high willing to make RS work and repair so investement isnt wasted.

Question 12

whats the 5th factor ?

Answer 12

RS maintennce mechanisms
-commited partners use maintennce behaviours to allow RS to keep going

Question 13

what maintenence behvaiours do RS use?

Answer 13

1. promote RS (accomodation)
2. put partners interests first(willing to sacrafice)
3. forgive them for serious transgressions(forgiveness)
4. one partner being unrealisitically positive about the other partner (positive illusions)
5. partner negative ab tempting alternatives and other ppls RS (derogation of alternatives)

Question 14

what are the strenghts of this model?

Answer 14

(research support)
-meta analysis
-52 studies from 1970s to 1999
-involved 11ps from 5 diff countries
-found satisfaction , comparison w alternatives and investement size all predcited RS commitment
-where commitment was greatest RS were most stable, lasting for longer
-results true for men and women across all cultures(homo and hetero)
-universally important features(increases validity of model)

(abusive RS)
-Rusbult and Martz
asked women in shelter why they didnt escape their abuser early when the abuse began
-women felt greater commitment to RS and alternatives were poor and investement was great
-so satisfaction on its own doesnt explain why ppl stay in RS - commitment and investement also factors

Question 15

weaknesses of model

Answer 15

oversimplifies investement
-Goofried and agrew argue theres more to investement than js resources already put into RS
-partners can have investement early on RS
-investements can include future plans to motivate partners to stay committed to have plans be reality
-model lacks the complexity

counterpoint research support
-correlational but doesnt always give proof of a cause
-cant conclude any of the factors cause commitment in a RS
-it may be more commitment causes more investement your willing to make
-direction of causality may be reverse
-not clear model identified causes.

Question 16

how can we refer to the perception vs reality

Answer 16

-much evidence supporting the investement model relies on self report e.g interview, questionnaires
- generally weak but appropriate here because its the individual parnters perception of the factors that matters
-its your belief that you have made a big investement in your current RS or belief theres no attractive alternatives that infulence your commitment.