Social exchange theory evaluation

Lack of RTS:  Emerson & Cook designed a lab experiment where each of 112 participants was bargaining with a partner to maximise personal scores in a computer game. The ‘relationships’ between these partners are nothing like real-life romantic relationships as they are very artificial because people aren't emotionally invested in them. The study lacks internal validity, making SET less applicable to real-life romantic relationships.

Cause & effect: hard to establish cause & effect w/ some of the SET assumptions. Argyle argued that we don't assess costs & rewards or alternatives until after we are dissatisfied. For example, being unhappy in relationships may lead a person to question whether there are more rewards than costs in their relationships and the potential…