Rusbult's investment model

• Rusbult ( 1983 ) created the investment model of relationships
• Rusbult 's investment model of relationships suggests that the maintenance of a relationship is determined by commitment.
• Commitment refers to the likelihood that the relationship would persist
• Rusbult ( 1983 ) found that three are there major factors leading to commitment in relationships:

  Satisfaction level

  Comparison with alternatives

  Investment
• Commitment refers to the partner's desire to remain in a couple and reflects their intention to have a future together.
• Rusbult believe that commitment is a maintenance factor in relationships as even if the couple has difficulties, they do not want to see their investment go to waste, and they will therefore work through it
• Satisfaction level is based on Comparison level in SET. Partners will have more satisfaction in their relationship if they receive more rewards and have less costs.
• Comparison with Alternatives is a judgement made by partners in a relationship deciding whether they could receive greater satisfaction by ending the relationship
• Rusbult claims that the most important factor to maintaining commitment is investment
• Investment into a relationship refers to tangible and non tangible resources such as money, possessions and happy memories that they will lose if they leave the relationship
• There are two types of investment:

  Intrinsic

  Extrinsic
• Intrinsic investment is things partners put directly into the romantic relationship such as effort, money, possessions and self disclosure
• Extrinsic investment is things brought into a partner's life through the relationship, such as children, friends and shared memories
• Rusbult says that the bigger the investment, the more likely people are to stay in the relationship, making it the biggest factor influencing commitment to relationships.
• Rusbult ( 1983 ) AO3. There is research support for investment model

  Rusbult and Martz ( 1995 ) found that women that report making the greatest investments and had the least attractive alternatives were more likely to return to abusive partners

  This reflects Rusbult’s investment theory

  However, most research is correlational, which doesn’t show causation, casting doubt on the reliability of the research .
• Rusbult ( 1983 ) AO3. There may be no cultural bias for the Investment model

  Le and Agnew ( 2003 ) conducted meta analysis of 52 Studies and found that there were support for the Investment Model In both individualist and collectivist cultures.

  This shows that Rusbult’s Investment model can be applied everywhere.

  These findings take a naturalistic  approach as they can suggest human need for Investment is developed through the process of natural selection.
• Rusbult ( 1983 ) AO3. There are potential methodological issues in related research.

  Most evidence comes from interviews and questionnaires, which are subjective and unreliable. However, it can be argued that as satisfaction, investment and commitment are subjective and depend on perception, self report measures are the most appropriate.
• Rusbult ( 1983 ) AO3. There are missing details of the Investment model. Goodfriend elaborated on the original model and suggested that investment should include any plans that the partners have made regarding the relationship, and that relationships not only persist because of previous investment, but planned investments in the future.

  This shows that the investment model can be improved.