The Investment Model was put forward by Rusbult et al as a development of Social Exchange Theory, siuggesting other factors why couple remain together
what are the three factors
According to Rusbult's proposal, there are three major factors that maintain commitment in relationships:
satisfaction level,
comparison with alternatives
investment size.
Satisfaction level and comparison with alternatives are based on the idea of comparison levels from Social Exchange Theory
there will be a high level of satisfaction if there are more rewards than costs and
if there are less alternatives there will be more comittment
the most important factor that maintains commitment to a relationship is investment.
Investment refers to the number of resources, both tangible, like money or possessions, and intangible, like happy memories, that people will lose if they leave relationships.
The model proposes two types of investment: intrinsic and extrinsic. -
Intrinsic investment comprises the things we put directly into the relationship, such as effort, money, possessions, self-disclosure.
Extrinsic investment refers to the things that are brought to people's lifethrough the relationships, such as children, friends and shared memories.
Rusbult et al. concluded...
the bigger the investment, the more likely people are to stay in relationships as it increases dependence in teh relationship
Le and agnew
Meta- analysis of 52 other studies (1970s-1990s)- over 11,000 participants from 5 countries
Findings
Satisfaction level, quality of alternatives and investment size highly correlated with relationship commitment.
Largest correlation was between satisfaction and commitment
Quality of alternatives-
an individuals assessement of whether their needs may be better fulfilled by somebody other than their current partner