The Investment Model Of Relationships

Question 1

Define the term “investment model”

Answer 1

An explanation of relationship stability that emphasises the importance of three factors (satisfaction, investment size and quality of alternative) in determining relationship commitment, which in turn predicts relationship stability

Question 2

Outline the role of satisfaction within the investment model

Answer 2

• refers to the positive versus negative emotions experienced within a relation and is influenced by the extent to which the other person fulfils the individuals most important needs

Question 3

Outline the role of quality of alternatives in the investment model

Answer 3

• refers to the extent to which an individuals most important needs might be better fulfilled outside the current relationship
• attractive alternative = superior outcome compared to current
• alternatives can also be : no relationships

Question 4

Outline the role of investment size in the investment model

Answer 4

• is a measure of all the resources that are attached to the relationship, and which would diminish in value or be lost completely if the relationship was to end
• investment can also be in the future
• increase dependence on relationship = connections that are costly to break

Question 5

Outline commitment in the investment model

Answer 5

• the likelihood that an involvement will persist
• commitment is high = high satisfaction, quality of alternatives is low and investment is high
• commitment is low = satisfaction is low, investment is low, and quality of alternatives is high
• commitment is a consequence of increasing dependence

Question 6

Outline the procedure of Le and Agnew (2003) study

Answer 6

• meta analysis of 52 studies
• studied different components of the investment model and the relation between them
• sample of over 11k from 5 countries (US, UK, Netherlands, Israel and Taiwan)

Question 7

Outline the findings of Le and Agnew study (2003)

Answer 7

• satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size were highly correlated with relationship commitment
• satisfaction and commitment (.68)
• quality of alternatives and commitment (-.48)
• investment size and commitment (.46)

Question 8

What was the correlation between commitment and stay or leave behaviours ?

Answer 8

• .47 -with individuals showing higher levels of commitment being more likely to stay in relationship and vice versa

Question 9

AO3

Is there research support for the investment model?

Answer 9

P: importance of commitment is supported by a meta - analysis by Le et al (2010)
E: data from 38,000 participants in 137 studies over a 33 year period - to show what made people stay or leave in non marital relationships. Commitment (or lack of it) was a strong predictor
E: However, the 3 components of the investment model were only modest predictors of the likelihood of staying in a relationship

Question 10

AO3

Are the components of the investment model hard to measure?

Answer 10

P: the components of the investment model that lead to commitment is difficult to measure
E: Rusbult developed the investment model scale to overcome this problem - high reliability and validity.
E: However, scale relies on self report - respondents portray themselves in good light = biased findings

Question 11

AO3

Can the investment model be applicable to real life scenarios?

Answer 11

P: explains why people stay in abusive relationships
E: victims = low satisfaction but they still stay. May be due to lack of alternatives or too much investment
E: As a real life validation of this, Rusbult and Martz revealed that alternatives and investments were a strong indication of whether battered women at a shelter remained committed to or returned to their partner

Question 12

AO3

Is investment only based on the past?

Answer 12

P: Goodfriend and Agnew - investment in future is important of whether people stay or not
E: ending relationship = lose investments made to date and ones in the future.
Some relationships persist not because of current balance of investments but motivation to see cherished future plans come to fruition
E: evidence that future plans were strongly predictive of commitment in romantic relationships, over and above past investments

Question 13

AO3

What is the wider application of the investment model?

Answer 13

P: strength = main claims - that commitment is positively associated with satisfaction level and investment size and is negatively associated with quality of alternatives- are true across different populations and types of relationships
E: research support in different cultures ( US, Netherlands m, Taiwan), different populations ( marital or non marital, gay etc)
E: the validity of the model is not restricted to face to face. In a study of the social media platform, Wechat - showed support of components of investment model and especially investment was more predictive of commitment level than the other two variables