INVESTMENT MODEL

who developed the model

• Rusbult

why was Rusbults model developed

• it was developed as an extension to the social exchange theory

what does Rusbults investment theory suggest and what are the three factors

• the commitment partners feel in a relationship is a result of three factors

• satisfaction

• comparison of alternatives

• investments

explain the satisfaction factor

• the satisfaction people feel in a relationship depends on their comparison level

• a satisfying relationship is judged by comparing the rewards and costs of the relationship

• a relationships assumed to be satisfying if it has many rewards and few costs

• partners are also generally satisfied if they are getting more out of the relationship than they expected, based of of previous relationship experience and social norms

explain the comparison of alternatives factor

• a comparison of alternatives results in the partners asking themselves could my needs be met better outside of this relationship

• for example in a relationship with a different person or being on their own

explain the investments factor

• Rusbult realised a comparison of alternatives is not enough to explain commitment

• if they were many more relationships would end as soon as costs outweighed profits or a more attractive alternative became apparent

• this lead to the third investment factor being introduced which is anything we would lose if the relationship was to end

• there are two types

explain the two types of investments and give an example of each

• intrinsic investments :

• resources we directly put into the relationship

• they can be tangible such as money or intangible such as energy

• extrinsic investments :

• resources that previously did not feature in the relationship, but are now closely associated with it

• this includes tangible things like shared cars kids or mutual friends or can be intangible like shared memories

whats the result of these three factors interacting

• if partners in a relationship experience high levels of satisfaction because costs are less than rewards and the alternatives are unattractive, with the investments always increasing we can confidently predict the partners will remain committed to eachother

explain the difference between satisfaction and commitment

• Rusbult suggested a relationship is more likely to last if partners are committed than if they are satisfied

• commitment explains why people stay in unsatisfying relationships

• its because they have made lots of investments they don’t want to lose so they will therefore work hard to maintain or repair their relationship

explain the maintenance mechanisms that this theory suggests happen

• according to the model partners don’t engage in tit for tat retaliation and instead focus on accommodating each other

• they also put their partners needs first and are willing to sacrifice and forgive serious transgressions

• there’s also a cognitive element where partners perceive their partner and relationship in an overly positive way, whilst seeing others and alternative relationships in a negative way which is called positive illusions

explain the abusive relationship evaluation point for this topic

• a strength is that the model explains relationships that involve intimate partner violence (IPV)

• rusbult and martz (1995) studied domestically abused women at a shelter and found that those most likely to return to their relationships has the least attractive alternatives and had made a lot of investments

• these women were dissatisfied in the relationship but committed to it

• therefore the model shows how satisfaction on its own cannot explain why people stay in relationships and that the factors of commitment and investment also matter

explain the oversimplification of investment evaluation point for this topic

• a limitation of this model is that is views investment in a simplistic, one dimensional way

• goodfriend and agnew (2008) point out there is more to investment than just what resources you have already put into the relationship

• in the early stages partners will have made very few actual investments

• goodfriend and agnew extended rusbults original model by including the investment partners make in their future plans

• they are motivated to commit to each other because they want to see their cherished plans for the future work out

• this means the original model is limited because it fails to recognise the true complexity of investment

explain the research support evaluation point for this topic

• another strength of the investment model is its supported by the meta analysis by Le and Agnew ( 2003) which used studied 52 studies from the 1970s to 1999 and included 11000 participants from five countries

• they found that satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment size all predicted relationship commitment

• relationships where commitment was greatest were the most stable and long lasting relationships

• these findings were the same male, female, homo and heterosexual people

• this suggest there is validity in rubults claim that these factors are universally important features of relationships

explain an evaluation extra point for the research support evaluation point for this topic

• however this meta analysis lacks temporal validity, this is because since the study was conducted between the 1970s and 1999 the prevalence of online relationships and dating apps has increased hugely

• this means that we don’t know if satisfaction, alternatives and investment effects commitment in virtual relationships in the same was as it does in face to face relationships