Social Exchange Theory Relationship formation

Starter In pairs, make a list of the benefits and costs of a romantic relationship. We will discuss these in 5 minutes

What did you come up with? Benefits Costs

Social Exchange Theory Thibaut and Kelley,1959. All behaviour is a series of exchanges. Individuals want to maximise rewards and minimise costs. If a relationship is to be successful then both parties are expected to give and take in equal proportions.

Social Exchange Theory(an economic theory) Rewards from relationships are sex, companionship, being cared for etc. People will only form a relationship if the rewards outweigh the costs(in terms of time, effort, finances etc) Thus, commitment to a relationship is dependent on its profitability

Social Exchange Theory Comparison level. The standard against which all our relationships are judged. We get a comparison level through using our own experiences in other relationships together with general views of what we might expect to gain from the relationship. If the benefit of a relationship exceeds the CL we worked out then we would see forming the relationship as beneficial.

Social Exchange Theory Task 1- Take a celebrity couple and write down a list of profit and lost. 2-Work out a comparison level based on the celebrities past relationships and what they have to gain from the relationship. 3-Should they have formed a relationship? Are they still together? Does the SET fit? You have ten minutes.

Celebrity couple examples Met in the Jungle. Peter was a washed up star! Katie was known as a glamour model. They had two children and Peter was a father to her disabled son, Harvey. Katie had bad luck with men, Dwight Yorke, Dane Bowers etc

Celebrity couple examples Met at university. Wills wasn’t sure so dumped poor Kate! Before realising she was the, ‘one’! What benefits might Kate get from marrying a handsome, rich, caring Prince? What benefits would William get?

Evaluation: SET Provide 3 evaluation points of SET. Remember to use key terms discussed in evaluation skills lesson. You have 10 mins

Evaluation SET Strengths Based on Social/economic approach: so people have free will and choice(takes into account individual differences) unlike in other theories of relationship formation , such as Sociobiological. Helps to explain why somebody would terminate a relationship they were satisfied with (in that the alternative partner can offer even more!) It could help explain why people may stay in an abusive relationship (Rasbults, investment model).As if they have put a lot into the relationship and there is no Clalt then they may stay in that relationship.

Evaluation of SET Weaknesses Methodologies used: ,Most studies investigating it are very artificial and lack ecological validity. It has inconsistent empirical research: Clark and Mills (1979) identified two different styles of couples ( communal and exchange couples). In the communal couple they have positive regard for each other and believe over time each will receive equal costs/benefits. The exchange couple are more about here and now.

Evaluation SET Limited applications: Hatfield (1979) found equity was more important for females . Murstein (1977) found that only people in problem marriages will look for alternatives. It assumes that everybody wants equality. Some couples may be perfectly happy to give more than they receive. Cultural bias: SET may only apply to western countries.

Matching Hypothesis Ideally we all want a perfect partner. But as this is not possible we compromise. We are likely to become matched to somebody who most matches what we want. In the real world we chose somebody who is the best we feel we could get!!(in terms of attraction etc)

Research study : Matching Hypothesis The Computer Dance Study (Walster, 1966) 752 students bought welcome week tickets for a computer dance. When they bought the ticket they were told that information they gave about themselves would be fed into a computer and this would provide an, ‘ideal match’ date. In fact they were randomly assigned any partner. When students were giving their data (when they booked thier ticket) an unseen observer marked them on attractiveness. After spending two hours with their dates students were asked how much they liked their partner.

Computer Dance Study Those who were physically attractive were liked the most. Men asked out a partner if they found her attractive ,regardless of how attractive they were. High ecological validity: naturalistic setting. Unexpected results: The study does not support the matching hypothesis. If we match each other then we should only ask somebody out whose level of attractiveness matches our own. Methodological Problems?

Extra reading “ Critically assess explanations relating to the formation of relationships”