PSY424H1 Lecture : Lecture 4
Document Summary
Relationship commitment: the intention to persist with a relationship (could be positive or negative depending on the context, best psychological predictor of whether a relationship will ultimately last. Investment model: according to this model, commitment has three key components, satisfaction: are you happy, investment: resources place into the relationship, quality of alternatives: other options. Types of investments: tangible (material such as joint account, shared pets) vs. intangible (emotional/identity, past vs. future, past intangible, future intangible, and future tangible investments all independtly. Alternative and narcissism: narcissists have characteristically lower commitment levels, relationship is mediated by high quality of alternatives. Barriers to relationship dissolution: commitment only becomes problematic when the quality of the relationship is low, possible reasons that people cannot leave unsatisfying relationships, having high investment, low quality of alternatives. Investments and cohabitation: cohabitation before marriage has problems, less marital satisfaction, more marital violence, higher risk of divorce, but this applies only to those who cohabit before engaged (committed, relationship inertia.
