Rusbult's Investment model

overall description of Rusbult’s Investment Model

the model is a development of the social exchange theory to address the limitations of the SET;

emphasises the importance of commitment in relationships

what are the 3 factors of Rusbult’s Investment model

satisfaction

comparison with alternatives

investment

whats the1st factor of the Rusbult’s investment model

satisfaction;

based on the concept of the comparison level

where a satisfying relationship is judged by comparing rewards and costs and seen to be profitable if it has many profits and few costs

each partner is more satisfied if they are getting more out of the relationship than they expect (from previous experience/social norms)

whats the 2nd factor of Rusbult’s Investment model

comparison with alternatives;

where a partner asks themselves if there are alternatives more rewarding than their current relationship

whats the 3rd factor of Rusbult’s Investment model

investment; (crucial factor influences commitment)

where there’s anything that one would lose if the relationship ends

2 major types of investment;

1. intrinsic investments - any recourses we put directly into the relationship e.g. money/possessions

can be recourses harder to quantify (intangibles) e.g. energy/emotion/self disclosures

2. extrinsic investments - recourses that didn’t exist before the relationship e.g. car/children/mutual friends

what are the 2 types of investment

intrinsic investment

extrinsic investment

whats intrinsic investment

recourses that we put directly into a relationship

e.g. money/energy/emotion/self disclosures

whats extrinsic investment

recourses that didn’t exist before the relationship but now become closely associated with them;

e.g. car/children/ shared memories

what did Rusbult argue about commitment

argued that commitment is the main psychological factor that causes people to stay in romantic relationships (alongside satisfaction as a contributorary factor)

why’s the distinction between satisfaction and commitment important

bc it can help explain why dissatisfied partners may choose to stay in a relationship — is bc they are commitment to their partner

how does commitment explain why people stay in relationships

partners are committed when theyve made an investment that they dont want to see going to waste

so they work hard to maintain and repair a damaged relationship

how does commitment maintain relationships

a committed partner promote the relationship and out their partner’s interest first (willingness to sacrifice) and forgive them

whats the cognitive element to relationship maintenance and repair

when committed partners think about eachother and potential alternatives in specific ways;

they are unrealistically positive about their partner (positive illusions)

and show negativity to tempting alternatives (ridicule alternatives)

strength of rustbult’s investment model - empirical support form meta analysis

E; Le&Agnew (2003) conducted a meta analysis, reviewing 52 studies involving over 11K p’s from 5 countries — found that satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment size were all highly correlated with relationship commitment, and that relationship with highest commitment lasted the longest.

E; This suggests that the model is a valid concept across different cultures and applies to both heterosexual and same sex relationships.

L; Therefore, the model provides a universally applicable concept for understanding why people stay in relationships.

limitation of Le&Agnew’s meta anaylsis - cannot establish a cause-effect relationship

E; Le&Agnew’s meta-analysis were strongly correlational.

E; However, correlational studies do not allow us to conclude that the factors of the model cause commitment in a relationship, it could be that the more committed you feel towards the partner, the more investments you make

L; Therefore, its not clear that the model has identified the causes of commitment which reduces its internal validity.

strength of the model - strong explanatory power for abusive relationships

E; Rusbult&Martz (1995) studied women at a domestic violence shelter and found those most likely to return to an abusive partner reported making the greatest investments.

E; Under a SET lens, these women should leave bc the costs outweigh the rewards but the investment model explains that high investments creates a powerful psychological barrier to prevent them from leaving the relationship

L; Therefore, this model has high ecological validity as it applies to real world social issues.

limitation of the model - heavy reliance on self report measures (methodological issues)

E; The data typically gathered is through questionnaires and interviews.

E; This is an issue bc p’s may be subject to social desirability bias, portraying their relationship as more stable/better than it actually is to avoid judgment

So while the model attempts to establish a nomothetic law (general law for all relationships) the data is highly subjective

L; Therefore, the methodology lacks scientific credibility, which reduces the generalisability of the concept of the model across all individuals

limitation of the model - the view of investment is too simplistic and reductionist

E; Goodfriend&Agnew(2008) suggested that investment should include ‘future plans’ as they argued that ppl stay in relationships not just bc of past investments but bc theyre motivated to see their future plans come to reality

E; This suggests that the original model is reductionist as it only focuses on past investments, by breaking down complex human motivation into a simple list of investments,

L; Therefore, the original model is an incomplete explanation of commitment and needs to follow a more holistic view to include forward looking motivations