Social Exchange Theory

EVALUATE

HUMANS SEEK REWARDS

LISTEN

Exchange Theory

Assumptions of Social Exchange Theory

Who are the Theorists?

• Thibaut and Kelley suggest that when people interact, they are goal directed. This is congruent with their assumption that human beings are rational.
• People, engage in behavioral sequences, or a series of actions designed to achieve their goal =Heart of Social Exchange
• Power: the dependence a person has on another for outcomes.
• There are two types of power in this theory: Fate Control and Behavior Control.
• Fate control: the ability to affect a partner’s outcomes.
• Behavior control: the power to cause another’s behavior to change by changing one’s own behavior.
• Thibaut and Kelley describe three different matrices in social exchange to illustrate the patterns people develop:
• Given Matrix: behavioral choices and outcomes that are determined by a combination of external factors (the environment) and internal factors (the specific skills each interactant possesses)
• Effective Matrix: the transformations you are able to make to your given matrix, by learning a new skill.
• Dispositional Matrix: represents the way two people believe that rewards ought to be exchanged between them

Prisoner's Dilemma

Thibaut and Kelley take those three assumptions about human nature from drive reduction principles. In their approach to relationships, they developed a set of principles that they call Game Theory. The classic game they developed that illustrates their first assumption about relationships is called the Prisoner’s Dilemma.

Evaluating a Relationship

1. Jones confesses and Smith confesses= they both receive a life sentence.

2. Jones confesses and Smith denies = Jones goes free and Smith is jailed for life.

3. Jones denies and Smith confesses= Smith goes free and Jones is jailed for life.

4. Jones denies and Smith denies= they both serve a short jail term.

INTERDEPENDENCE

The assumptions that Social Exchange Theory makes about human nature

include the following:

• Humans seek rewards and avoid punishments.

• Humans are rational beings.

• The standards that humans use to evaluate costs and rewards vary over time and from person to person.

The assumptions Social Exchange Theory makes about the nature of relationships include the following:

• Relationships are interdependent.

• Relational life is a process.

• John Thibaut, a social psychologist who was the first editor of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. He was also a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for many years
• Harold Kelley, an American social psychologist and professor of psychology at UCLA
• “Every individual voluntarily enters and stays in any relationship only as long as it is adequately satisfactory in terms of his [sic] rewards and costs” (1959, p. 37)

TALK

• This evaluation rests on two types of comparisons: comparison level and comparison level for alternatives.
• The comparison level (CL) is a standard representing what people feel they should receive in the way of rewards and costs from a particular relationship.
• If our current relationship meets or exceeds our CL, the theory predicts we will be satisfied with the relationship.
• Comparison level for alternatives (CLalt): how people evaluate a relationship based on what their alternatives to the relationship are.
• The CLalt provides the threshold for evaluating a relationship compared to the realistic alternatives to that relationship.

Critique of SET

Critique of SET

• Scope: When examining SET on the basis of scope, some critics comment that SET only considers the individual as a unique entity without focusing on the individual as a member of a group. Because of this, SET cannot account for relationships in cultures that prioritize connection over individuality.
• Utility: SET has been criticized for the conceptualization of human beings it advances. In the theory, humans are see as rational calculators, however many people object to this understanding of humans, asking whether people really rationally calculate the costs and rewards to be realized when in a relationship. some individual differences might affect how people process information. Some people are simply more self-aware than others.

Comparison Theory

Testability: A common criticism of Social Exchange Theory is that it’s not testable. One important attribute of a theory is that it is testable and capable of being proven false. The difficulty with SET is that its central concepts—costs and rewards—are not clearly defined.

Heurism: People who support SET point out that it has been heuristic. Studies in many diverse areas, from corporations to foster care have been framed using the tenets of Social Exchange. Researchers have also examined communication in romantic relationships, theater groups, and online using SET. In addition, some researchers have suggested that Social Exchange Theories might offer a useful framework for examining coaching people to exhibit positive communication.

What is The Social Exchange Theory?

Exchange Structures

Exchanges may take several forms within these matrices. These include direct

exchange, generalized exchange, and productive exchange

• (SET) is based on the notion that people think about their relationships in economic terms. People tally up the costs of being in a relationship and compare them to the rewards that are offered by being in that relationship. (Year 1959)

Scholarly Articles

Costs vs. Rewards

Worth= Rewards-Costs

Uncertainty Reduction Theory:

The uncertainty reduction theory created by Charles Berger and Richard Calabrese could also be connected to this scenario as well. The rewards or costs will be a major factor in helping develop your level of uncertainty towards an individual. As the number of costs increase it is easy to assume that your level of uncertainty about an individual will increase as well. If the rewards increase it could very easily lower your level of uncertainty of an individual. Cost = increased uncertainty Reward = Decrease in uncertainty

COST

• Marital Relationships: A Social Exchange Theory Perspective
• Paul A. Nakonezny and Wayne H. Denton
• Rural Tourism: Perspectives From Social Exchange Theory
• Shu-Tzu Chuang

What is our Outcome?

Costs: the elements of relational life that have negative value to a person.

Example: The time and effort one has to put into maintaining a relationship or the negatives one has to put up with in their partner.

Rewards: the elements of a relationship that have positive value.

Example: Having fun they have together, the loyalty they show for each other and sharing a sense of understanding.

• Social Exchange Theory goes even further, predicting that the worth of a relationship influences its outcome, or whether people will continue with a relationship or terminate it.
• Positive relationships are expected to endure.
• Negative relationships will probably terminate.

Social Exchange Theory

Ashleigh W. and Devin G.