we attempt to maximise our rewards and
minimise our costs of being in a relationship
we stay and commit
to a relationship if it
is profitable
Sampling, Bargaining, Commitment
and Institutionalisation
Commitment level - how much of a reward you
believe you deserve to get.
if we judge the potential
profit of a new relationship
to exceed our CL, the
current relationship is
profitable, so the person
commits.
Comparison Level with Alternatives - if one is
dissatisfied with their current relationship as it is
less rewarding than alternatives so they do not
commit to the current relationship
Support for CLAlt.
Sprecher found that CLAlt negatively
correlated with satisfaction so if
commitment is high, the alternative
options are low
Real-world application: IBCT
Gottman and Levenson found
that in successful marriages, the
ratio of positive to negative
exchanges was 5:1 but in
unsuccessful marriages it was 1:1
can help to increase exchanges between
couples and reduces number of divorces -
beneficial for the economy
Limitation: economic metaphor.
e.g. Clark and Mills found two types of relationships
Exchange relationships - do
involve exchanges
Communal relationships -
between romantic partners
marked by receiving and giving of
rewards without keeping score
not something we do in everyday life
Equity Theory
Equity is where people strive to achieve fairness in their
relationships and places emphasis on the need for each
partner to experience a balance between the cost and
their benefit
Profit in a relationship is maximised and the costs are minimised
Distribution -
compensations are
negotiated to
achieve fairness in
the relationship
If restoring equity is possible, maintenance of
the relationship will continue - they will realign
their distribution to change their profits
The greater the degree of perceived unfairness, the greater the dissatisfaction
If one puts in a lot but gets out a lot, then
this will seem fair. This is known as the
perceived ratio of inputs and outputs
Under-benefitted
anger
not receiving to the same level that
you are giving in a relationship
Over-benefitted
not giving to the same level that you are receiving
Guilt
Support - Hatfield:
Under-benefitted
versus
Over-benefitted.
Found that under
were more angry and
over were more guilty
Cultural Bias - Moghaddam.
Economic theories only apply
to Western relationships. In
non-traditional societies,
they are more likely to value
security over personal profit.
Individual Differences - Huseman. Some
are less sensitive to equity. For instance,
there are two types of people that are less
sensitive to equity.
Benevolents - are prepared to contribute more than they receive
Entitleds - believe that they deserve to
over-benefit and accept it without feeling guilty
Investment Model
maintenance of
a relationship is
determined by
commitment
Commitment is the likelihood that the relationship will persist
economic theory
Satisfaction is the extent to which the partners feel
the rewards of the relationship exceeds the costs
Investments are the resources
associated with a romantic
relationship which would be lost if
the relationship ended
Intrinsic Investments are what we put in directly, e.g.
money, energy and emotions, time etc
Extrinsic Investments are jointly point in, e.g. memories
Comparison to alternatives is a judgement about
whether a relationship with a different partner
would reduce costs and increase rewards
e.g. Rusbult and Martz asked women why they stayed in an
abusive relationship and they said that they had invested a lot
Large basis of work supports the model
E.g. Le and Agnew found that satisfaction, CLAlt
and investment size all predicted commitment
Uses correlations so no cause and effect relationships are established. E.g. there a re
strong correlations between all of the important factors predicted by the investment
model, however, there is no other factual evidence to suggest that this is the case