Rusbult's investment model

• Rusbult's investment model

  commitment depends on 3 factors

  • satisfaction
  • comparison with alternatives
  • investment
• Factor 1 - Satisfaction

  • based on concept of the comparison level.
  • judged by comparing rewards and costs
  • each partner is satisfied if they are getting more out of the relationship than they expect based on previous experience and social norms.
• Factor 2 - Comparison with alternatives

  • romantic partners ask themselves 'Are the alternatives more rewarding or less costly?'.
  • Includes other relationships or no relationship at all
• Factor 3 - Investment

  • anything you would lose if the relationship were to end.
  • two major types of investment
  • intrinsic investment
  • extrinsic investment
• Intrinsic investment

  resources you put directly into a relationship

  can be tangible (money, possessions)

  can also be intangible (energy, emotion, self-disclosures)
• Extrinsic investment

  resources that didn't previously feature in the relationship but are now closely associated with it.

  e.g. a car, mutual friends, shared memories.
• Satisfaction vs commitment

  commitment = main psychological factor causing people to stay in relationships.

  satisfaction = contributory factor.

  • helps explain why dissatisfied partners stay in a relationship.
  • committed as they have made an investment.
• Relationship maintenance mechanisms

  • accomadation
  • willingness to sacrifice
  • forgiveness
  • positive illusions
  • ridiculing alternatives
• Strength -> Le + Agnew meta analysis

  • reviewed 52 studies, included 11,000 pps, 5 countries
  • satisfaction, comparison with alternatives, investment, all predicted relationship commitment
  • greater commitment -> couple was more stable, lasted longer.
  • true for men + women, homosexual and heterosexual couples.
• Counterpoint -> meta analysis

  Results were correlational.

  Cannot establish a cause and effect. Could be the opposite way around.
• Strength -> Explains abusive relationships

  • explanation of relationships that involve intimate partner violence
  • Rusbult + Matrz
  • studied domestically abused women at a shelter and found those most likely to return to their partner had made a greater investment with fewest attractive alternatives
  • dissatisfied in relationships, but still committed.
• Limitation -> oversimplifies investment

  • viewed in simplistic one dimentional way.
  • more to investment than just resources already put in.
  • early stages have few investments.
  • later model adds future plans