A01 Social Exchange Theory(SET)

• Rewards, costs and benefits

  Thilbault and Kelley contend behaviours in relationships reflect the economic assummptions of exchange. They say that that we minimise losses and maximise gains (the minimax principle).
• Rewards and costs

  We judge our satisfaction in terms of the profit it yeilds , defined as reards and cost. Rewards and costs are subjective as there exists a range wide possible outcomes . What one person views a significant reward, another might view it as less valuable.
• Value of rewards and costs

  Might change overtime course of the relationship. What is seen as rewarding and costly in the early stages of a relationship might become less so as time goes on.Rewards involve companionship, sex, emotional support.
• Negative and unpleasant

  A romantic relationship can involve negative and unpleasant emotions as well as pleasurable ones. Blau states that relationships can be expensive as include time, stress, energy and compromise. Also, relationships incurs an oportunity cost. Investment of time and energy in yor current romantic partners means uing resources you cannot invest elsewhere.
• Comparison levels (CL)

  First measure of the profit of a romantic relationship. Comparison levels are the amount of reward that you believe you deserve to get. It develops out of experience of previous experiences which feed into our expectations of the current one.
• Social norms


  Influenced by social norms, within a culture, to be a reasonable reward. Often reflected in media, books and film. As we get more relationships and experience of social norms, our CL changes as we acquire more 'data' to set it by.
• Self-esteem


  If CL is high, we consider a relationship worth pursuing. Links with self-esteem. Someone with a low self-esteem will have a low CL and will therefore be satisfied with gaining just a small profit from a relationship. Someone with high self-esteem will believe they are worth a lot more.
• Comparison level for alternatives (CLalt)

  Second measure of profit provides a wider context for our relationship. Given that romantic relationships in our culture are usually exclusive. SET predicts that we will stay in our current relationship only so long as we believe it is more rewarding that than the alternatives.
• Duck's research on CLalt


  The CLalt we adopt will fuly depend on the state of our current relationship. If the costs of our current relationship outweight the rewards, then alternatives become more attractive. Being in a satisfying relationship means that you may not even notice that alternatives could be available.
• Stages of research development

  Sampling stage where we explore the rewards and costs of SET by experimenting with them in our own relationships or by observing others doing so.
• Bargaining stage


  Marks the beginning of a relationship, when romantic partners start exchanging various rewards and costs, negotiating and identifying what is most profitable.
• Commitment stage


  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 stage

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