Social Exchange Theory

• Theories of romantic relationships

  •The next three theories we will study are theories of romantic relationships i.e. why people are satisfied and so stay/remain in relationships. Make sure this is the focus of your answer when describing and evaluating them.
• Rewards Cost And Profit

  •Thibault and Kelley suggests that behaviour in relationships reflects the economic assumptions of exchange. Most importantly, we try to minimise losses and maximise gains (the minimax principle).
• Rewards Cost And Profit

  •We judge our satisfaction with a relationship in terms of the profit, defined as the rewards minus the costs.–Rewards include such beneficial things as companionship, sex and emotional support.–Relationships can be 'expensive', so costs include time, stress, energy, compromise, and so on.
• Rewards Cost And Profit

  •What one person considers a significant reward might be viewed by someone else as less valuable.  Also, what is seen as rewarding or costly in the early stages, for instance, might become less so as time goes on.•Also in economic terms, a relationship incurs another kind of cost, an opportunity cost. Your investment of time and energy in your current relationship means using resources that you cannot invest elsewhere.
• Comparison level (CL)

  The amount of reward that you believe you deserve to get
• Comparison level (CL)

  • Develops out of our experiences of previous relationships which feed into our expectations of the current one
  • Influenced by social norms that determine what is widely considered, within a culture, to be a reasonable level of reward
  • Often reflected in the media
• Having a high CL


  We consider a relationship worth pursuing
• Having a low CL

  Someone with low self-esteem will be satisfied with gaining just a small profit (or even a loss) from a relationship
• Having a higher self-esteem


  Someone will believe they are worth a lot more
• Comparison Level for Alternatives (CLALT)


  The second measure of profit provides a wider context for our current relationship
• CLALT

  Do we believe we could gain greater rewards and fewer costs from another relationship (or from being on our own)?
• CLALT


  Could I do better?
• SET predicts that we will stay in our current relationship only so long as we believe it is more rewarding than the alternatives
• CLALT


  The state of our current relationship will depend on the CLALT we adopt
• There are usually 'plenty more fish in the sea', so if the costs of our current relationship outweigh the rewards, then alternatives become more attractive
• Being in a satisfying relationship means that you may not even notice that alternatives could be available
• •CL – the amount of reward you believe you deserve to get from the current relationship based on experience of previous relationships and social norms. We consider a relationship worth pursuing if our CL is high.
• •CLalt – we compare the rewards and costs from the current relationship to other possible relationships and being alone. We will stay in a relationship as long as we believe it is more rewarding (or has fewer costs) than alternatives.
• Stages of Relationship Development

  1. Sampling stage

  2. Bargaining stage

  3. Commitment stage

  4. Institutionalisation stage
• Sampling stage1


  We explore the rewards and costs of social exchange by experimenting with them in our own relationships (not just romantic ones), or by observing others doing so
• Bargaining stage2 This marks the beginning of a relationship, when romantic partners start exchanging various rewards and costs, negotiating and identifying what is most profitable

• Commitment stage 3


  As time goes on, the sources of costs and rewards become more predictable and the relationship becomes more stable as rewards increase and costs lessen
• Institutionalisation stage4

  The partners are now settled down because the norms of the relationship, in terms of rewards and costs, are firmly established