Rewards
"Social exchange and rational choice originated
in what is known as "utilitarian thinking"; The common theme is that humans are motivated and act so as to maximize those outcomes they most value" (White and Klein, 2008, p. 66).
* "The benefits exchanged in social relationships.
* Positive reinforcement (i.e., respect, social acceptance)
*May be concrete (services) or symbolic (status)
*May be particular (love) or universal ($)" (Herring, 2012).
Social Policy
Profit or Maximizing Utility
Exchanges
Becoming Jane
Please type following this link into your browser in order to view a clip from the TV show Friends that demonstrates Exchange Theory's connection to social policy.
"Profit is defined as the ratio of rewards to costs for any decision; Actors rationally calculate this ratio for all possible choices in a situation and then choose the action that they calculate will bring the greatest rewards or the fewest costs." (White and Klein, 2008, p. 71).
"Some of the rewards we desire are dependent on the cooperation of others, or we may need to trade with others something we have of lower value in exchange for something of higher value" (White and Klein, 2008, p. 74).
Social Capital:
created when relations among persons change in ways which facilitate action
Ex: networking with other businesses to increase sales of your own business
Human Capital:
knowledge, skills, and techniques an individual has
Ex: writing, engineering, carpentry, painting
http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/duboisad/clips/friends-set.wmv/view
Exchange Dynamics
References
*Power
"Inversely related to dependence (if you have all the power in the relationship, your partner will be more dependent and vice versa) when it is not balanced in the relationship, it is positively related to resources (whomever has resources has power)
*Exchange
*Attempts to balance power and dependence
*Emphasizes maximum joint profit
*Reciprocity - whether exchanges are responsive to each other; may include the timing and whether "in kind" of exchange of different resources; avoids indebtedness"
(Herring, 2012).
"Most exchange theorists support the idea that profitable exchanges are valued and maintained. This fact seems to imply that individuals in such exchanges have resources to exchange and the network of profitable exchanges..." (Klein & White, 2008, p.750)
Discussion Board Questions
Social Exchange & Rational Choice Framework
Critical Commons. 1998. Friends: Social Exchange Theory. http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/duboisad/clips/friends-set.wmv/view
Herring, A. (2012). Personal Communication
Klein, D. M., & White, J. M. (2002). Family theories: An introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Youtube. January 28, 2007. Becoming Jane trailer.
Youtube. April 19, 2009. Psych 340: Social exchange theory.
1. What were the costs and rewards for each of the following relationships:
• Jane and Mr. Wisley
• Jane and Tom LaFroy
• Jane’s parents
• Mr. Wisley and Lady Gresham
• Henry Austen and Eliza De Feuillide
2. How did the various characters use comparison levels in their decision making? How have you used comparison levels in a decision you have made in your own life? (p.71)
3. In the movie, how did social structures emerge from individual profit motives? (p.67)
4. How did human capital work for Jane? How did it work against her? Social Capital? (p.75)
Comparison Level for Alternative (CLAlt)
By: Amber Epps, Faith Parker, Jacqueline Blackshear
"My current setting against what I could have. The lowest level of outcome a person will accept from a relationship in light of available alternatives.
*E.g. Married person comparing themselves with their single friend.
*Dependence- degree to which a person believes that they are subjected or reliant on the other for relationship outcomes. Dependence is meditated by internal and external barriers" (Herring, 2012).
Dominant Assumptions
Comparison Level
"In complex situations, the evaluation of profit available to a person will be divided into two comparison levels.
CL and CL+" (White and Klein, 2008, p.71)
Trust and Commitment
*"We seek to maximize profits for ourselves and minimize costs.
*When faced with no desirable alternatives, we will choose the least costly alternative.
*We are motivated by self interest.
*Profit rather than rewards determine choices made.
Profit = rewards - costs" (Herring, 2012).
Equity
(CL) of what others in your position have and how well you are doing relative to them.
(White and Klein, 2008, p.71)
(CL+) is how well you are doing relative to others outside your position but in positions that supply an alternative or choice"
(White and Klein, 2008, p.71)
Costs
Trust
*"Related to fairness and reciprocity.
*The belief that their partner will not exploit them.
Commitment
*Central in distinguishing social from economic exchanges.
*Related to a person's willingness to participate in a relationship over a long time.
*Involves consideration of future rewards and reduction of attention to alternative relationships"
(Herring, 2012).
Comparison Level contd.
"Comparison levels can be used to understand a choice such as divorce, and they can also be used to understand the degree of satisfaction or gratification a person associates with an outcome" (White and Klein, 2008, p. 72).
"Equity can be defined as "fairness" or "justice," and relations do not need to be exactly equal to be fair or just but can be perceived to be so" (White and Klein, 2008 p. 74).
Supplemental Readings
*"Punishment experienced or rewards forgone
*Investment= time and effort
*Direct costs- resources given to someone else in the exchange
*Opportunity- rewards that were available in other exchanges that one gives up when participating in the present relationship" (Herring, 2012).
"Rational Choice and Social Exchange (Themes in the Social Sciences)"
by Anthony Heath
"Exchange & Power in Social Life" by Peter M. Blau
“Readings in Family Theory” by Thomas Chibucos & Randall Leite
“Social Exchange Theory” by Karen S. Cook