AO1 - SET

• Social Exchange Theory was proposed as an economic theory of relationships
• Maximised rewards - minimised costs = profit = relationship satisfaction
• Costs and rewards are subjective, for example, rewards such as companionship, may be considered as rewarding for some but not as rewarding for others

  • What is considered as rewarding or costly in the early relationship may change as the relationship develops
  • A relationship where the rewards exceed the costs and is mutually beneficial will be maintained
• CL; Comparison levels - amount of reward you believe you deserved to get:

  • Develops from our past relationships and we use this to compare with our current relationship rewards
  • Our past relationships feed into our expectations of our current norms, it is also influenced by our social norms
  • As we gain more experiences, our comparison levels change
• CL ALT; Comparison levels of alternatives - do you believe you could gain greater rewards and fewer costs in another relationship:

  • We compare our rewards and costs in our current relationships compared to potential ones, e.g. my girlfriend is lovely but this new girl lives closer so I would save petrol money
  • SET predicts we will stay in our relationship as long as we believe it is more rewarding than alternatives
• Relationships will succeed if:

  1. Rewards exceed costs
  2. Profit level is not higher in alternative relationships
  3. Mutually beneficial - profit for both parties