theories of romantic relationships: equity theory

• equity theory

  also an economic model, with all of the assumptions of social exchange theory

  Hatfield (1979) suggests that the missing factors is fairness or equality, which is why this development of the model was created
• equality 


  suggests that people are more satisfied in a relationship if they feel that the balance of rewards and costs is similar for both partners and so are both getting what they deserve
• balance


  both partners’ profits - losses should be similar even if they are different profits and losses so that the relationship is stable

  e.g one partner gets more out while putting more in, whilst other partners gets much less out but puts less in
• over-benefitting 


  if one partner gets more overall profit they may feel personal shame and pity towards the other partner as well as guilt
• under-benefitting 


  if one partner gets more of the overall costs then they may feel resentful and angry towards their partner.
• A partner who feels that they are receiving less profit in an inequitable relationship may respond by either working hard to make the relationship more equitable, or by shifting their own perception of rewards and costs to justify the relationship continuing
• Change in perspective 


  over time what is considered fair or unfair may change. For example, early in a relationship attraction may be seen as more important than equity. However Hatfield (2011) suggests that in the later stages of relationships successful couples are less likely to ‘keep score'
• Utne et al (1984)

  •  studied equity in marriage. Utne used self-report method on newly-married couples two years.
  • The questionnaire recorded their perceived equality and a measure of their relationship stability and distress.
  • Found partners who felt they were treated with more equity were happier and felt their relationship to be more stable. also found no sex differences in concern for equality.
  • This suggests that feelings of equality are important in the stability of relationships
  • An issue with this research is that it is correlational, and correlation is not causation
• (weakness) Huseman et al. (1987)


  suggested that individual differences are an important factor in equity theory. They make a distinction between entitleds who feel that they deserve to gain more than their partner in a relationship and benevolents who are more prepared to invest by working harder to keep their partner happy.
• (weakness) Clark and Mills (2011)


  argue that we should differentiate between the role of equity in romantic relationships and other types of relationships such as business or casual, friendly relationships. They found in a meta-analysis that there is more evidence that equity is a deciding factor in non-romantic relationships, the evidence being more mixed in romantic partnerships.
• (weakness) cultural bias 


  Equity Theory does not apply to all cultures; couples from collectivist cultures (where the group needs are more important than those of the individual) were more satisfied when over benefitting than those from individualistic cultures (where the needs of the individual are more important than those of the group in a study conducted by Aumer-Ryan et al. (2007)