Rusbult’s investment model

• Rusbult’s investment model further developed social exchange theory
• Commitment results from what 3 factors?

  Satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and Investment
• Satisfaction


  The extent to which the rewards of the romantic relationship exceed the costs.

  Whether the costs are what they expect

  • like CL
• Comparison with alternatives


  Judgement about whether a relationshop with a different partner or being single would be more profitable

  • equivalent of CLalt
• Investment


  The resources associated with a romantic relationship which would be lost if the relationship ended
• What are the 2 types of investment?

  Intrinsic and extrinsic
• What are intrinsic investments?

  Resources put directly into the relationship

  Can be tangible

  • e.g money

  Can also be intangible

  • e.g. energy and self-disclosure
• What are extrinsic investments?


  Investments that developed as a part of the relationship and partners don't possess before a relationship

  Can be tangibles

  • e.g. shared house, car and kids

  Or intangibles

  • e.g. shared memories
• What is commitment determined by?

  High levels of satisfaction + less attraxtive alternatives + increasingly large investments
• Satisfaction vs commitment

  Commitment is the main factor that causes people to stay in romantic relationships

  Satisfaction contributes to commitment

  • explains why a dissatisfied partner stays in a relationship when they have high investment levels. They’ll be willing to work hard to repair their relationship so investment isn’t wasted
• Wha are the different maintenance mechanisms?

  Behavioural

  • accommodation- not engaging in retaliatory arguments and instead promoting the relationship
  • willingness to sacrifice- putting partner’s interests first
  • forgiveness- forgiving them for serious transgressions

  Cognitive

  • Positive illusions- unrealistically positive about their partner
  • Ridiculing alternatives- negative about alternatives and other people’s relationship
• When do people use maintenance behaviours?


  When they are commited and want to keep the relationship going
• Research support- A03

  Le and Agnew (2003)

  • meta-analysis
  • found that satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment size all predicted commitment
  • true for both men and women, across all cultures, for homosexual and heterosexual couples

  Suggests that the model’s claim that these factors are universally important is valid
• Correlation not causation- A03

  Le and Agnew’s meta-analysis looked at studies showing strong correlations between factors but doesn’t show that these factors cause commitment

  • commitment may cause increased investments to be made

  So it isn’t clear that the model has identified causes of commitment rather than factors associated with it
• Real-world application/support- A03


  Rusbult and Martz (1995)

  • studied abused women staying at a shelter
  • those reporting the greatest investment and fewest alternatives were most likely to return to abusive partners
  • women were dissatisfied but still returned because they were committed

  Can be applied to coming up with interventions

  • e.g. counselling to raise self-esteem so expected profit is more than profit and so they are unsatisfied or empowering so that they feel ok to be single

  So the model has real world support and applications to help people get out of abusive relationships
• Investment oversimplified- A03

  Goodfriend and Agnew (2008)

  • argue that there is more than just resources to investment
  • Early in a relationship partners make very few investments but they do invest in future plans which motivate partners to commit

  Means the original model is a limited explanation

  • as it fails to consider the true complexity of investment