THE EXCHANGE THEORY Flashcards
(13 cards)
What is the social exchange theory: THIBAUT AND KELLY
romantic relationships are seen as profit and loss.
Partners in relationships strive to maximise rewards, such as companionship, praise, sex, and minimise costs such as stress, arguments, compromises and time.
This is all subjective, and costs can change over time.
2 levels of comparison to assess how profitable their relationship is:
Comparison Level
and
Comparison level for alternatives.
What is the first level - comparison level?
Idea of how much reward they deserve to receive in relationships and becomes a benchmark for judging relationships, and is subjective, and depends on previous romantic experiences.
high self esteem = higher expectations of rewards and vice versa.
People consider relationships worth pursuing if the comparison level is equal or better than what they have experienced before.
Perceived profits must be above the comparison level for both partners.
Second level of comparison - comparison level for alternatives
A person’s perception of whether other, different potential relationships (or being on their own) would be more rewarding than being in their current relationship.
People will stick to their current relationships as long as they find them to be more profitable than the alternatives.
On the other hand, the more profitable a comparable partnership may seem, the less likely an individual is to remain dependent on their current relationship for satisfaction
Duck says that some people tho may not even acknowledge other alternatives in the first place if they’re content.
4 Stages in a relationship
sampling stage
bargaining stage
commitment stage
institutionalisation stage
briefly describe the 4 stages:
sampling: where people explore potential rewards and costs of relationships, not just romantic ones, either by direct experiences or observing others.
Bargaining: first stage of any romantic relationship. At this stage, partners exchange rewards and costs, figure out the cost profitable exchanges and negotiate the dynamics of the relationship.
Commitment: when relationships become more stable and partners become familiar with sources of rewards and costs and expectations.
Institutionalisation stage: when costs and reward are well established.
Kurdek and schmitt research aim
sample of 185 couples participated (heterosexual couples married, cohabiting, homosexual males and females).
Each individual within the couple completed a questionnaire, designed to measure the importance of social exchange factor in their relationship satisfaction, without discussing their responses with their spouse or partner.
KURDEK AND SCHMITT results
for all couples participating in the study, relationship satisfaction was always reported as higher when the partners perceived the benefits pf the current relationship to outweigh the costs (comparison level), and that alternatives to the relationship were deemed as a less attractive option (comparison level for alternatives).
counter point
SET assumed that assessing profit and loss is the way in which all relationships are maintained, but ARGYLE argues that people rarely start assessing their relationships before they feel unsatisfied with them, and these thoughts only occur after the dissatisfaction is discovered.
real life application!
IBCT - INTEGRATED BEHAVIOURAL COUPLES THERAPY:
During the therapy sessions, partners are trained to increase the proportion of positive exchanges and decrease negatives ones by changing negative behaviour patterns.
Christensen reported that about 2/3rds of couples were treated using IBCT, claimed that their relationship significantly improved
Determinism
SET assumes that if the costs outweigh the rewards, the person will opt out of a relationship. However there are many cases where people stay in a high cost relationship (chronically ill partners) without feeling dissatisfied.
Predictive validity of SET is very limited; it can’t assume that they’re dissastiied or not based on the amount of costs or rewards they get.
Undermines the scientific claim of SET, as an ability to predict human behaviour with a degree of certainty, which is one of the main objectives for psych to be caccepted as a science.
