Rasbults investment model

• According to rasbult, commitment depends on three factors: investment size, comparison with alternatives, and satisfaction level
• Satisfaction is based on the concept of the comparison level. A satisfying relationship is judged by comparing rewards and costs, and is seen to be profitable if it has many rewards and few costs. Each partner is generally satisfied if they are getting more of the relationship than they expect based on previous experience and social norms.
• Investment size:: 

  • The CL and CLalt derived from SET are not enough to explain commitment. 
  • If they were, then many more relationships would not end as soon as either the costs outweighed the rewrds or more attractive alternatives presented themselves,
  • due to this, investment is a third factor influencing commitment 
• investments refers to the extent and importance of the resources associated with the relationship. an investment can bre anything we woulld lose if the relationship were to end
• rusbult argues that there are two major types of investment:

  • intrinsic investments are any resources we put directly into the relationship. they can be tangible things such as money and possesions. they can also be resources that are intangibles such as energy, emotion and self disclosure
  • extrinsic investments are resources that previously did not feature in the relationship but are closely associated with it. tangibles include possessions bought together. an example could be mutual friends, a car, shared memories, children
• if the partners in a relationship experience high levels of satisfaction and the alternatives are less attractive and the sizes of their investment are increasing, then we can predict that partners will be committed to the relationship
• Rusbult et al argue that the main psychological factor that causes people to stay in romantic relationships is not satisfaction but commitment. this is an important distinction because it can be used to explain why dissatisfied partners may stay in a relationship. this is because they made an investment that they do not want to see go to waste. therefore they will work hard to maintain and repair a damaged relationship.
• relationship maintenance mechanisms:

  commitment expresses itself in everyday maintenance behaviours. according to the model, enduring partners do not engage in retaliation but instead act to promote the relationship, this is accomodation. they will also put their partners interests first, which is willingness to sacrifice. they also forgive them for any serious transgressions, forgiveness. committed partners think about each other and potential aletnatives in specific ways. they are unrealistically positive above their partner [positve illusions], and negative about tempting alternatives.
• Le & Agnew 


  they conducted a meta analysis by which they reviewed 52 studies which together included around 11,000 participants from five countries. they found that satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment size all predicted relationship commitment. realtionships in which commitment was greatest were the most stable and lasted longest. an especially supportive finding was that rhese outcomes were true for both men and women, across all cultures in the analysis, and for homosexual as well as heterosexual couples. this suggests high validity in Rusbults model
• the investment model is thought to be a particularly valid and useful explanation of relationships involving intimate partner violence. Rusbult & Martz studied battered women at a shelter and found that those most likely to return to an abusive partner reportted making the greatest investment and having the fewest attractive alternatives. the model recognises that a victim of abuse does not have to be satisfied with a relationship to stay in it
• Goodfriend & Agnew


  point out that there is more to investment than just the resources you have already put into a relationship. after all, in the early stages of a romantic relationship the partners will have made very few actual investments. they may not even live together at this point. they extended rusbults original model by including the investment romantic partners make in their future plans. they are motivated to commit to each other because they want to see their plans for the future work out. original model is limited because it fails to recognise the complexity of investment