Fox 1 Lecture 31
SOCIOL 2S06
Monday February 3, 2014
The Theoretical Ideas of Peter Blau
A) Theoretical Orienation
a. Was interested in moving beyond the micro level Homans was interested in into
higher levels of analysis
b. He thought that the basis processes of understanding exchanges at the micro
level could help us understand some of the exchanges that occur at high levels
of analysis, building on Homans to a considerable degree
B) Exchange Between Indviduals
a. Conception of Social Exchange
i. Homans talked about rewards and punishments, however Blau only
talked about rewards
ii. Blau’s conception of social exchange was limited to interactions that are
contingent on (ie. Depend on) receiving rewards from others
iii. Argues that people are drawn into various kinds of relationships
(friendships, marriages, employee/employer associations) for a variety of
reasons
iv. The rewards that are exchanged can be intrinsic (eg. Affection, love,
respect), or extrinsic (eg. Money, physical labour)
b. Power in Social Exchange
i. Social exchange is often characterized by power imbalances (with one
person getting more rewards and one person getting less rewards)
ii. Eg. If one friend is giving more help, favours, respect, etc than the other
friend, there is a power imbalance in the friendship, and the friendship
probably will not last
C) Exchange Within Social Structures
a. Social Structures (such as groups, organizations, societies)
Social Interaction (individuals involved in exchange)
these social structures emerge out of social interaction, once social structure has
formed it has an impact on social interaction b. WITHIN A GROUP
i. Eg. A friendship clique, a school club
ii. People are attracted to a particular group when they feel that association
with that group offers more rewards than association with another group
iii. To be accepted within the group, people must offer rewards that fit the
interests of the group as a whole ( not the individual group members)
iv. Eg. A new member might be accepted into a friendship clique if that
person has certain aspects that enhance the status of the clique
beginning to see how
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