equity theory

• INTRO

  • equity refers to achieving a fair and balanced relationship between each partner in terms of costs and reward. it is not focused on equality (e.g maintaining the same amount of costs an rewards) but the quality of costs and rewards should be the same
  • equity if subjective - one partner may feel they are being over-benefitted in terms of costs and reward which leads to feelings of guilt while the under-benefitted partner feels anger and resentment towards inequity
• PERCEPTION

  • perception of equity is important - if one parter feels dissatisfaction at the levels of inequity then relationship is likely to be unsuccessful
  • perceived inequity  occurs when one partner feels that they are putting in more effort  and incurring more costs than the other
  • balance of equity in a relationship can change over time
  • under-benefitted partner may try to restore inequity. alternatively they may use cognitive dissonance to reframe costs and turn it into another aspect of relationship - overtime if no change occurs relationship is likely to end
• A03

  +supportive evidence for a link between equity and satisfaction rates - utne et al reviewed 118 couples who were dating for 2 or more years before marriage. they valued equity as a key component for the success and satisfaction in their relationship, rather than one or both members being benevolents or entitleds. this therefore suggests the the equity theory has high ecological validity because it can explain the quality and satisfaction associated with real-life couples, as opposed to simply being theoretical.
• A03

  -cultural differences not accounted for by the Equity theory. Studies such as Aumer-Ryan et al.  show that the concept of equity is more important in Western cultures than non-Western cultures. They found that both men and women from non-Western (collectivist) cultures claimed to be most satisfied with their relationships when they were over-benefitting from it, not when the relationships were fair. These results highlight a culture bias in this area of research and suggest that Equity Theory does not explain the development of romantic relationships in all cultures. 
• A03

  -It could be argued that equity theory is reductionist to some extent as it attempts to explain the complex and unpredictable behaviours involved in relationship negotiation as a simple balancing act. Taking a holistic approach to understanding the fine details of a relationship would probably prove to be more insightful and meaningful.