Rusbult's Investment Model

• Investment Model


  a theory which explains why some people might remain in a relationships while others might not.

  it's based on 3 factors: satisfaction levels, investment size and comparison with alternatives
• Satisfaction


  based on concept of Comparison Level (CL)

  satisfying relationship is judged by comparing rewards and costs. it's seen as profitable, if it has many rewards (e.g. support, ex, companionship) and few costs (e.g. stress and arguments)
• Investment Size


  measure of all the resources that are attached to relationship, and which would reduce in value or be lost completely if relationship ended.
• Intrinsic investment


  resources a person directly brings to the relationship.

  can be tangible e.g. money, possessions, and can also be other resources e.g. energy, emotion and self-disclosure.
• Extrinsic Investment


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

  tangibles include possessions bought together e.g. house and car.

  intangible is shared memories
• Comparison with Alternatives (CLalt)

  similar to SET, CLalt leads to romantic partners asking themself, 'Could my needs be better met outside of my current relationship? are the alternatives more rewarding and loss costly?
• Commitment Level


  describes likelihood an involvement will persist.

  commitment is high in partners who are happy in their relationship and anticipate very little gain and high levels of loss if they left the relationship.

  commitment is low when satisfaction levels + investment in relationships are both low -> quality of alternatives is high.

  commitment is a consequence of increasing dependence.
• Relationship maintenance mechanisms


  commitment expresses itself in everyday maintenance behaviours.

  accommodation: dating in a way that promotes relationships rather than keeping a tally of rewards and costs.

  willingness to sacrifice: putting partner's interests first

  forgiveness: willingness to forgive partners mistakes, both minor and serious ones.
• Satisfaction vs Commitment


  Rusbult et al argued commitment is main psychological factor that causes people to stay in romantic relationship with satisfaction as a contributory factor.

  explains why dissatisfied partner choose to stay in a relationship - they're committed to their partner.
• Strength - supporting research for Rusbult's investment model

  Le and Agnew's reviewed 52 studies from the late 1970s-1999, studies which together included 11,000 ppts from 5 countires.

  found satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment size greatly contributed to relationship commitment.

  Strength - supports model's claim about factors contributing to commitment and about commitment being most promising feature in successful long-term relationship, thereby increases reliability of model
• Strength - Rusbult's investment model explain abusive relationships

  according to model, if a partner feels the investment made into relationships will be lost if they leave, they're more likely to stay in a relationship even when costs are high and rewards are low.

  research into abusive relationships supports this idea.

  Rusbult and Maltz in their study of 'battered' women, found that women were more likely to return to an abusive partner if they felt they had invested in the relationship and didn't have any appealing alternatives.

  Strength - shows the investment model can be applied to a wide range of relationship experiences that SET and equity theory fail to explain, increasing investment models' application to everyday relationships
• Weakness - investment model is based on correlational research

  majority of research into investment model is correlational, so psychologists are unable to conclude that investment causes commitment.

  limits predictive validity of model, as it would fail to predict which types of investment and how much investment will lead to long-term commitment.

  lack of predictive validity makes investment model less scientifically rigorous.

  Weakness - even with the strongest correlation there's no evidence of causation between investment and commitment.
• Strength - most of evidence from Rusbult's investment model from self-report techniques i.e. interviews and questionnaires

  self-report techniques are an important research method since model is based on subjective judgements about satisfaction, investment and commitment.

  good approach what matters is partners' subjective perceptions of their investments.

  your belief that you have made a big investment in your current relationship, or belief you have no attractive alternatives, that influence your commitment.

  Strength - data obtained through self-report techniques may provide a more realistic picture of reasons for relationship satisfaction and how it's related to investment and commitment, therefore making investment model more valid.