Rusbult's Investment model of Commitment

• Rusbult's Investment Model


  States commitment is dependent on 3 factors: Satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment
• Satisfaction


  Baaed on the comparison level. A satisfying relationship is judged on rewards and costs and is seen to be profitable if there is more rewards
• Comparison with alternatives


  A judgement that partners make concerning whether a relationship with a different partner would bring more rewards and fewer costs
• Investment 


  The resources associated with a romantic relationship which partners would lose if their relationship ended. There are 2 types: extrinsic and intrinsic
• Intrinsic investment


  Any resources we directly put into the relationship. This can be money and possessions. They can also be energy and emotions
• Extrinsic investment


  These are resources that did not feature in the relationship but are now closely associated with it. This may be children and mutual friends
• Satisfaction vs commitment

  • Commitment is the main psychological factor that causes people to stay with satisfaction being a contributory factor
  • Can explain why dissatisfied partner stay in a relationship
  • This may be because they are committed to their partner and have made investments
• AO3 Rusbult's Model: Explains abusive relationships

  • Offer an explanation as to why people may stay in an abusive relationship
  • Women at a shelter were studied and results found that women most likely to return to an abusive partner reported having made the most investments and the fewest alternatives
  • They were dissatisfied but were still committed to them
  • Satisfaction on its own cannot explain why some people stay in relationships
• AO3 Rusbult's Model: Research Support

  • Support from a meta analysis that gathered data from 52 studies which included 11,000 PPs from 5 countries
  • They found that satisfaction, comparison of alternatives and investment size predicted relationship commitment
  • Relationships in which commitment was greatest were the most stable and lasted the longest with outcomes being true for men and women across all cultures and heterosexual and homosexual couples
  • There is validity to Rusbult's claim that this is universally important
• AO3 Rusbult's Model: Cultural Bias

  • The investment model for romantic relationships could also be argued to be culturally biased
  • Based on studying western society which may place a greater emphasis on individual satisfaction levels, investments and the quality of alternatives
  • Collectivist cultures may not place such emphasis on these variables and therefore the theory may be culturally biased as it may not explain how relationships work in other countries or cultures
• AO3 Rusbult's Model: Oversimplifies investment

  • It views investment in a simplistic way
  • There is more to investment than just the resources you have already put into a relationship
  • In the early stages partners may not have made many investments
  • Other researchers extended the model to include future plans as they stay committed to see their future plans happen
  • The model is limited as it fails to recognise the true complexity of investment