Rusbalts investment model

• What kind of theory is Rusbalts investment model?

  Economic theory
• Investment model of relationship Rusbalt (1983)?

  • Suggests that the maintenance of a relationship is determined by commitment
  • In this context commitment refers to the likelihood that the relationship will persist
• What is commitment strengthened and weakened by according to Rusbalts investment model?

  STRENGTHENED:

  • Satisfaction
  • Investment

  WEAKENED:

  • Presence of alternatives to the relationship
• What does investment mean in terms of the Rusbalt Investment model

  • Investment is anything that a person puts into a relationship that will be lost if it ends
• What are the two investment types according to Rusbalts investment model?

  Intrinsic investments:

  • Time, personal information (self disclosure), Put directly in

  Extrinsic investments:

  • Shared thing that may be lost: shared pet, network of friends, children
• What are characteristics of committed partners according to Rusbalts investment model?

  • Committed partners think about other and potential alternatives in a specific and predictable ways
  • Unrealistically positive about their partner to their face and to others (Positive illusions)
  • Negative about tempting positives and other people's relationships (ridiculing alternatives), much more so than less committed partners
• What was Rusbalts first study into Rusbalts investment model?

  • College students in hetero relationships completed questionnaire over 7 month period
  • Kept notes about how satisfactory their relationship was, how it compared with others and how much they had invested. They also noted how committed they felt.
  • Found less CL for alternatives when satisfaction and investment was high, leading to high commitment
  • Found more CL when satisfaction and investment were low, low commitment and ended relationships
  • Follow up studies found similar outcomes for both genders, across all cultures + homosexuals
• What was Le & Agnew's study into Rusbalts investment model?

  • Across 52 studies, including 60 independent samples and 11,582 participants, satisfaction with alternatives to and investment in a relationship each correlate significantly with commitment to that relationship
  • Collectively accounted for nearly 2/3 of variance in commitment
  • Commitment found to be a significant predictor of relationship breakup
• What was Rusbalts and Marty (1995) study into Rusbalts investment model?

  • Applied investment model to abusive relationships
  • Asked women living in refuges why they had stayed with their abusive partners instead of leaving them as soon as the abuse began
  • As predicted by the model, women had felt the greatest commitment to their relationship when their economic alternatives were poor and their investment was great