Social Exchange Theory

AO1:

• Thibault and Kelley (1959)
• All social behaviour is a series of exchanges; individuals attempt to maximise rewards and minimise their costs
• Rewards of relationships include sex, companionship and care
• Costs include effort, time and financial investment
• Rewards - Cost = Outcome (profit or loss)
• Committment to a relationship is dependent on the outcome
• We develop a comparison level to judge whether one person offers more or less than another
• The CL is a product of our previous experiences in relationships and our general views of what we might expect from a certain exchange
• If the potential profit in a new relationship exceeds our CL then the relationship…