Social Exchange Theory

In conclusion, I have given my complete interpretation on Robert Nozick’s writing, “Love’s Bond”. I have explained to the best of my knowledge the nature of love, the reason why in romantic love there is no desire of trading up, and lastly why it is incoherent to ask what the value of love is to an individual.

In chapter 8 Looking Out Looking in by Ronald. B. Adler it talks about why we form relationships , well most people desire relationships. Appearance is especially important in relationships whether it is in person or social media. Appearance is also the most important feature people look for, skills and intelligence are secondary. Being in a relationship causes partners to create positive illusions. In relationships we also look for similarity we like people who are similar to us. Similarity is more important to relational happiness than communication ability. Similarity also helps us overcome trivial differences. Complementarily differences are the differences a relationship has between each other. Complementarily differences strengthen relationships

The social exchange theory controls our behavior as well as the reinforcement for our actions because before we act in most circumstances, we will weigh the rewards and costs of the behaviors. The behavior that we use is the one believed to produce the highest reward and the lowest cost. What we may perceive to be acceptable or unacceptable in the relationship is our comparison level that we weigh the rewards and costs against. The comparison level of alternatives is when we weigh the rewards and costs relative to the perceived alternatives. People also have a comparison level for the alternative relationships. With a high comparison level, we may believe the world is full of lovely people just waiting to meet us. When this level is low, we may stay in a high-cost relationship simply because we believe we could not find any better elsewhere. Molm (1991) shows that in recent research on individual judgments losses have a greater effect on people then gains.

Moreover, this relationship forms to satisfy the couple’s shared desire and to nullify the “threat of ultimate dreariness [which] seems to hang over even the happiest moments” (896).

Blau states that “social attraction is the force that induces human beings to establish social associations on their own initiative and to expand the scope of their associations once they have been

Social exchange theory includes the following concepts: success, stimulus, value, deprivation, satiation, aggression, and approval. Homans defined each of these concepts explicitly in his book and various articles. The success concept which he defines is the principle of reward. (Homans, 1983, p. 33) While stimulus is defined when a stimulus presents itself and it resembles a previously rewarded activity, that individual is likely to repeat that action again. (Homans, 1950, Chapter 4) Homans defined value as a system of rewards and punishments. (Homans, 1983, p. 32) Deprivation and satiation was defined as the more often a reward has recently been received, the less valuable further rewards become. And if forced for a long time to go without a certain reward, an individual will lose interest and move on. (Homans, 1983, p. 33) Lastly, aggression and approval falls under the principle of distributive justice. When behavior does not receive the expected reward the response is anger. Yet, when the individual receives a greater reward than what is expected or does not receive punishment he will be pleased. (Homans, 1950, Chapter 4).

Kerchoff and Davis used their model to do a study on students who had been together for more than or less than 18 months. They were asked to complete questionnaires over 7 months on attitudes and personality of their partners compared to theirs; it was found that this was important in relationships up

People constantly evaluate the rewards and costs of their relationship as well as the rewards and costs of interaction with another individual. Rewards and costs can be tangible, such as money or gifts, or psychological, such as social support or intellectual stimulation (Unger & Johnson 604). According to Unger and Johnson, “if the reward/cost balance is more favorable than that of other potential relationships, the person will remain in the relationship, if the costs outweigh the rewards and an alternative relationship with more favorable outcomes is available, the person will leave the existing relationship in favor of the alternative” (604). Yet each reward and cost is different to each individual. To better understand reward and costs is to better understand each individual.

The Social Exchange theory proposes that we make decisions with the goal to maximize benefits and minimize costs (Newman, 2009, p.64). The choices we make require social approval and self-sufficiency. A family will make sacrifices if they perceive the action will equal rewards. Basically the theory refers to a give and take relationship where there needs to be balance for the relationship to be satisfying.

These theories insist that human relationships are made and sustained by evaluating the costs and benefits of entering a relationship, and by comparing them to alternative options. Specifically, I chose the first and second most common principles of this theory in order to analyze my turning points. The first principle is the notion that relationships are initiated out of self-interest. So for example, if a person believes that the relationship could prove beneficial towards personally achieving something, they will be more inclined to pursue that relationship even if it is outside their conscious awareness. The second principle is the notion that rewards and costs are positive and negative outcomes associated with a variety of exchanged resources.

Social Exchange Theory – Social behavior exchange theory is an exchange between parties as a representative of consent and status (Homans, 1958, p.

They are a continuous commitment which rely on constant maintenance, nurturing and assurances from each participant. Love relationship practices and investments are configured in experiences are shared in the past, present and in the future.

“The Best of Me” definitely doesn’t have a “fairytale ending”. In “the Best of Me” Dawson Cole and Amanda Collier were high school sweethearts. Dawson came from an abusive family that dealt drugs and Amanda came from a loving family that had the money to live very comfortably. Their relationship wasn’t easy, but not because of anything they had personally done. What would happen to Dawson and Amanda’s relationship when they reconnected after two decades? The movie seemed to include the social exchange theory (a theory that predicts people seek relationships where the benefits out weight the costs), social penetration theory (theory that predicts as a relationship grows, communication increases in depth) and gendered communication (women disclose more personal info and use more words, while men are task oriented and direct). (Burns, Di Novi, Greenspan, Kavanaugh, Sparks and Hoffman, 2014)

The first stage in the model, Sampling, is exploring the costs and rewards of various interactions through a number of different friendships and relationships and observing various people in their relationships in order to discern what works and what doesn’t. Psychologists interpret the social behaviour of adolescents and young people as they flit from one relationship/friendship to another as this sampling stage in action.

Many people have expectations in their relationships. People tend to think a relationship with the same or opposite sex will be just like in the movies. The most known expectation is love at first sight, which is truly not the case. In each relationship there are different aspects that generate a healthy one. People do not just quickly fall for each other; there is time involved in having a relationship. Furthermore, many people have high expectations for their relationships, but in reality, there is no perfect relationship. People falsely assume in relationships, nothing will go wrong, being in a relationship is everything a person wants, it will make them happy, and relationships are not found they are created, but no one is perfect as a human. In reality, that is not the case for how a relationship functions.