relationships Flashcards
(50 cards)
what is the social exchange theory
romantic partners exchange gains and costs. a committed relationship is when reward exceeds costs and potential alternatives are less attractive than the current relationship
SET rewards, costs and profits
thibault and Kelley (1959) said that behaviour in relationships reflect the economic assumptions of exchange. in a relationship we want to minimise costs and maximise gains. (the minimax principles)
SET rewards and costs are subjective
what one person considers to be significant may be considered less valuable by the another. what is seen as valuable now may not be seen as valuable in the future
SET rewards example
companionship, sex, emotional support
SET costs example
time, stress, energy
SET what is the comparison level? (CL)
one way we measure the profit in a relationship. it is essentially the amount of reward that you believe you deserve to get.
SET (CL) influences
from experiences of previous relationships, social norms (movies) that determine what is widely considered to be reasonable level of reward
SET (CL) self-esteem theory
someone with low self-esteem will have low CL and therefore will be satisfied with gaining just a small profit from a relationship (vise versa)
SET what are comparison level for alternatives (CLalt)
predicts that we will stay in our current relationship only so long as we believe it is more rewarding than alternatives.
SET Duck (1994)
‘the CLalt we adopt will depend on the state of our current relationship. if the costs in our current relationship outweigh the rewards, then alternatives become more attractive.’
SET the four stages of relationship development
sampling stage
bargaining stage
commitment stage
institutionalisation stage
SET AO3 - direction of cause and effect
dissatisfaction sets in when we suspect costs overweigh rewards or that alt is more attractive. Argyle said we only measure costs and rewards / attractiveness and alt if we are dissatisfied in relationship. thus, dissatisfaction comes first: miller found that people who rated themselves to be in a committed relationship spent less time looking at people.
what is the equity theory?
criticises the SET as it fails to consider the need that most people desire equity in relationship.
the role of equity
Walster et al - fairness, level of profits must be roughly the same.
if not then someone over/under benefits, leaving the under benefited unhappy and angry and over benefited feeling guilt and shame
equity and equality
its about the fairness of the ratio rather than the size or number of costs/ rewards.
satisfying relationships are marked by negotiations to ensure equity, rewards are distributed fairly.
two types of consequences of inequity
changes in perceived equity
dealing with inequity
changes in perceived equity
Dissatisfaction is caused when there’s a change in the level of perceived equity as time goes on. may be natural to have more costs at the beginning but as time go on it may not be as satisfying than previously.
dealing with inequity
the more unfair it feels, the harder they will work to restore equity - what was seen as a definite cost is now seen as the norm.
equity theory AO3 research support
Utne, self-report study of 118 recent married couples, finding that couples considered their relationship as equitable were more satisfied than people who saw themselves over/under benefiting. therefore increases validity.
equity theory AO3 individual differences
huseman et al suggests that people are less sensitive to equity than others. people are described as benevolent (prepared to have more costs than gains) and entitled (expect gains to outweigh and wouldn’t feel guilty over it). therefore equity is not necessarily important in romantic relationships and isn’t a universal law of social interaction.
equity theory AO3 can be seen as culture bias
although there a link between equity and satisfaction, a study where couples from a collectivist culture (favour over benefitting) were compared to an individualist culture. (favour equity).
Rusbults investment model (overview)
emphasises importance of commitment depending on three factors:
- satisfaction level
- comparison with alternatives
- investment size
satisfaction and comparison with alternatives (key definitions)
- satisfaction: extent romantic partners feel rewards exceed costs
- comparison w alt: the judgement on partner and if they’d bring more rewards and fewer costs
- satisfying relationship: profitable and each partner is generally satisfied if they’re getting more from it
investment size AO1
- the importance of resources and the resources we will lose if relationship ends
- rusbult et al proposes ‘intrinsic investments and extrinsic investments’
size of investment increases when satisfaction is high, confidently predict the partners will be more committed
