Rusbult's investment model AO3 Flashcards
(11 cards)
Who conducted research to support Rusbult’s investment model?
Le and Agnew
What did Le and Agnew do?
They carried out a meta-analysis on 52 studies which included 11,000 participants from five countries
What did Le and Agnew find?
They found that satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment size all predicted relationship committment.
Which type of relationships did Le and Agnew find were most stable and the longest?
Relationships in which committment was greatest were the most stable and lasted the longest
Le and Agnew’s findings that relationships in which committment was greatest were the most stable and the longest wad found true for…
Men and women, across all cultures and for homosexual as well as heterosexual couples
What is a limitation of most of the studies into Rusbult’s investment model?
Much of the research is correlational
Why is the research being correlational a limitation?
Cause and effect cannot be established between factors such as investment size and satisfaction and increased committment in relationships
What could the relationship between committment and investment?
It could be that the more committed you feel towards your partner the more investment you are willing to make in the relationship, rather than the other way round
What could be an alternative theory of romantic relationships?
Equity theory
What does equity theory propose?
It proposed that the most important thing in whether a relationship will succeed is equity within a relationship rather than investment
What has research shown suggesting equity theory should be used as an alternative explanation?
Research has shown relationship satisfaction is dependent on the person feeling there is equity between what they are putting into the relationship and what they are getting out of it, rather than the amount of investment an individual has in a relationship
