Social Exchange Theory

• The social exchange theory assumes that romantic partners act out of self interest in exchanging rewards and costs to develop a relationship.
• The social exchange theory utilises the minmax principle to maximise rewards and minimise costs to see how much 'profit' can be aquired to aid the development of their relationship.
• The social theory is under the assumption that people feel obliged to reciprocate when receiving rewards.
• The comparison level of alternatives assumes that we stay in relationships if we are satisfied with them and they are seen as more rewarding than alternatives.
• The comparison level for alternatives is also based upon what we believe our comparison level is. This means relationships are based on previous experiences and the reward you believe you deserve could be dependent on self-esteem. This has some reference to the internal working model
• Proposed by Thibault and Kelley
• Hatfield (1979) suggested the missing equality leading to equity theory to be developed