RELATIONSHIPS - Rusbult's Investment model of commitment
- Created by: EmilyEther
- Created on: 17-01-19 18:08
View mindmap
- Rusbult's Investment model of commitment
- 1. Satisfaction Level
- positive VS negative effect felt in a rel.
- related to the extent to which an individual's needs are met
- how a partner meets one's emotional needs
- 2. Comparison with alternatives
- refers to the percieved desirability of alternatives to current rel
- based upon how an individ's needs will be met in another rel compared to current one
- if needs are better in an alternative rel, quality of alternatives = high
- if needs will not be met in an alternative situation, commitment = higher
- 3. Investment size
- refers to amount and importance of resources involved in the rel
- if resources would decline or be lost at the end of a rel, commitment will be higher
- resoures could include: children, shared friends etc
- Variables linked to commitment:
- EQUITY: degree of 'fairness' in a rel. Inequity = dissatisfaction and less commitment and vice versa
- SOCIAL SUPPORT: degree of care and assistance provided by others (family & friends). If others approve of rel, commitment = higher
- Research
- RUSBULT - although inconsistent, females often reported higher sat levels, poorer scores for qual of alt, greater invests and stronger commitment. Suggests there may be gender diffs - females show more commitment and dependence than males
- RUSBULT - commitment in rels = positively correlated with sat level and invest size, but negatively corr with quality of alt . Supporting all 3 factors
- RUSBULT - support for all factors of model in homosexual rels and marital rels - model explains commitment in variety of rels
- VAN LANGE - support for all factors in Taiwanese PPs, RUSBULT with Dutch PPs. Cross cultural validity
- Evaluation (A03)
- model's focus on commitment was better indicator of long-term maintenance in rels than equity theory
- can explain why people remain in abusive rels - cost of losing = too great with no possible alts
- can explain infidelity - low sat level in current rel, but higher sat level for alt rel. Commitment then erodes
- research supports model -> is highly reliant on self-report -> social desirability bias, researcher bias -> dounbt of validity of results
- 1. Satisfaction Level
Comments
No comments have yet been made