Investment Model Flashcards
Who theorised the Investment Model
Rusbult, 2011
What is the Investment Model an extension of?
Social Exchange Theory (Thibaut & Kelly, 1959)
What does it propose?
The level of commitment an individual puts into a relationship is based on three key features; investment, comparison with alternatives (CL Alt) and satisfaction.
What will happen if the degree of each feature rises?
The individual will feel more committed to the relationship
What will happen if the degree of each feature falls?
The individual will feel less committed to the relationship
What is satisfaction?
Refers to the extent to which partners feel the rewards of the romantic relationship exceed the costs.
Commitment will increase the more an individual thinks their partner meets their needs (e.g emotional, sexual).
This makes the relationship more beneficial than costly, therefore more commitment in the relationship
What is CL Alt?
Commitment will increase if compared to other potential relationships our current relationship is more likely to meet our needs and benefits of it out-weigh the possibility of a new relationship
What is investment?
The more we believe we have invested into the relationship, the more committed we feel.
What are the two types of investment?
Intrinsic: any resources that we put directly into the relationship (e.g money, energy, self-disclosures)
Extrinsic: the investments that didn’t feature in the relationship which are now closely associated with it (e.g house, children, memories)
What’s a strength from the model?
It has supporting research evidence from Rusbult (1998) which found that in a series of studies where student participants, same sex couples and marries couples were given the investment modem scale (IMS) questionnaire, commitment was positively correlated to satisfaction, negatively correlated with quality alternatives and positively correlated with investment size. This suggests we remain committed as long as we’re satisfied, the quality of other possible relationships is low and if we could lose our investments - just as the model predicts.
What’s another strength of the model?
There is further supporting research from Le and Agnew (2003) who found that in a meta-analysis of 52 studies from the 70’s - 1999, covering 11000 participants over five countries, satisfaction, comparisons with alternatives and investments all predicted relationship commitment with the most committed couples lasting the longest. This was found regardless of gender, sexuality and in some cultures. This suggests that the investment model consists of factors which predict commitment to a relationship which are universally true.
What’s a limitation of the model?
One limitation is that the model oversimplifies investment. Goodfriend and Agnew (2008) argue the model ignored future plans. As in the early stages of relationship, very few investment have been made. In this way, the model ignores the true complexity of long term relationships.
