PSYC 362 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Social Exchange Theory
Document Summary
Social exchange theory: observes that social relations involve a process of exchange, motivation to maximize profits/minimize losses. Theory applied to intimate relationships: rewards/costs determine satisfaction (if person leaves or stays, rewards = desirable experiences, costs = undesirable experiences. Rewards/costs can be: tangible (make me dinner) Research on rewards/costs: costs are particularly influencial, people often pay more attention to costs and remember costs more than rewards, roughly 5x influence, for every 1 bad thing 5 good things must make up (1:5 ratio) **you always want to have more rewards than costs so that outcome is a positive number! This theory is based on mental calculations we generally have about our experiences. Interdependence theory: same outcome in different couples may not necessarily lead to same amount of satisfaction amongst different people. Satisfaction = outcomes - cl: high cl, expect relationships to be rewarding, low rewards = unacceptable and disappointing. Low cl: expect relationships to be troublesome, low rewards = acceptable and tolerable.