AO1

• minimax principle

  minimising losses and maximising gains
• Thibaut & Kelley (1959)

  SET

  social exchanges are a series of exchanges

  individuals attempt to maximise their rewards and minimise their costs

  people exchange resources with the expectation that they will earn a profit

  profit = rewards will exceed the costs

  rewards minus costs = outcome (profit or loss)

  SET stresses that commitment to a relationship is dependent on profitability of the outcome
• Costs

  mental health

  physical health

  time consuming
• rewards

  happiness

  support

  physicality
• Comparison level

  (CL)

  the amount of reward we believe we deserve

  this perception is formulated from previous relationship experience and from the media

  cultural preferences

  over time we gather more relationship experience and more experience of social norms so our CL will change as we acquire more 'data'

  
  

  High CL = we believe we deserve a lot of reward in a relationship

  Low CL = we believe we deserve little or no reward in a relationship. we may only accept costs

  
  

  Linking to self-esteem: people with low self esteem may be more likely to have a low comparison level
• Comparison level for alternatives

  (CLalt)

  we evaluate our relationship to the extent of which we believe we could get more rewards and fewer costs in a different relationship

  
  

  High CLalt = we believe alternatives are better than what we have so we feel low satisfaction in and therefore low commitment to the relationship

  
  

  low CLalt = we believe we are better off where we are or we may not even notice or think about alternatives, so we feel high satisfaction in and committed to the relationship
• stage 1: sampling stage


  we explore the rewards and costs of social exchange by experimenting with them (exchanging them) in our relationships or by observing others doing so
• stage 2: Bargaining stage


  the beginning of a relationship when romantic partners start exchanging rewards and costs, negotiating and identifying what's profitable
• stage 3: Commitment stage


  as time progresses, the sources of rewards and costs become more predictable and the relationship becomes more stable as rewards increase and costs decrease
• stage 4: institutionalisation


  partners are now settled down, the norms of the relationship in terms of rewards and costs are established