theories of romantic relationships: social exchange theory

Question 1

who proposed the thoery

Answer 1

Thibault and Kelly

Question 2

what does the theory propose

Answer 2

• relationships are like business transactions, in which partners give and recieve rewards, hence it is known as an ‘economic theory’
  Eg: companionship, sex, emotional support

Question 3

how do individuals monitor the rewards in relationships

Answer 3

• thorugh conducting a cost benefit analysis
• rewards - maximise the pleasant benefits
• costs - minimise the unpleasant aspects
• profit - maintence= rewards outweigh the cost. ‘minimax’ stratergy of self interests

Question 4

what is the minimax statergy

Answer 4

attempt to maximise rewards and minimise costs

Question 5

comparison level

Answer 5

• what we expect/think we deserve based on comparing things like
• if profit level in current relationship is judged to be greater than what we expect/think we deserve, relationship will be more satisfying and likely to last

Question 6

comparison level for alternatives

Answer 6

• what we think we would get in potential alternatives.
• if profit level in our current relationship is greater than the possible alternatives, the relationship will be satisfying and likely to last

Question 7

what are the 4 stages of relationships according to SET

Answer 7

• 4 stages in which social exchanges develop in a long term relationship
  1. sampling
  2. bargaining
  3. commitment
  4. institutionalisation

Question 8

explain sampling

Answer 8

• pre relationship stage
• individuals consider the rewards and costs of social exchange

Question 9

explain bargaining

Answer 9

romantic partners have started a relationship and are tyring out exchanging rewards and costs by identifying what is more profitable

Question 10

explain commitment

Answer 10

• source of rewards and costs become predictable ans the relationship becomes more stable and intimate
• rewards increase and the costs lesson

Question 11

explain institutionalisation

Answer 11

the norms, rewards, and costs are now firmly established in a relationship and it becomes settled

Question 12

strength: supporting

Answer 12

I: evidence that supports the influence of the CL alt
E: Sprecher carried out a longitudinal study of 101 dating couples as a US university and found that the exchange variable most associated with relationship commitment was partners comparison level for alternatives
Eg: when the CL alt was high, commitment to and satisfaction with the current relationship tended to be poor, indicating a negative correlation
C: evidence increases the validty of SET, by showing that relationships are maintained in a series od buissness exchanges and profits

Question 13

weakness: cause and effect

Answer 13

I: there are problems with establishing cause and effect
E: SET argures that it is the quality of alternatives determines satisfaction. however, becuase the research suggesting is correlational, only shows a rel between CL alt and satisfaction. not causality
could be satisfaction that determines how we percieve alt rather than the other way round. Miller found that ppl who said they were highly committed to their rel spent less time looking at images of attractive ppl in an experiment
C: reduces the validity of SET, as it implies that CL alt may not necessarily determine satisfaction

Question 14

Weakness: assumptions

Answer 14

I: many researchers do not accept some of the assumptions of SET
E: clark and mills argue not all relationships involve economic exchange and reward monitoring. they distinguish between:
~ exchange relationships: relationships do involve reward monitoring/exchange
~ communal relationships: involve exchange of rewards but without keeping score
argue romantic relationships are more likely to be communal whereas rels between eg: work colleagues are more likely to be exchange ones
C: reduces the validty of SET as it implies that it cannot account for romantic relationships