This theory, with backgrounds in sociology and economics, appeals to so many because of it simple answers to human interaction and intentions. The social exchange theory is very rational and considers humans to be rational in every thought they make. It examines human behavior through costs and benefits of being in a particular relationship. The theory states humans try to maximize their gain, but trying to do least possible in return or work.
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Theory is about humans thinking rationally about the relationships they are in or try to obtain with other people. The theory has to first generalize about human nature. Social exchange theory first generalizes that all humans are selfish and are out for themselves. It also assumes that all humans enter relationships for their own benefits and just to gain something out of that relationship. One of the last generalized ideas of the theory is that people weigh benefits versus cost of a relationship.
These three ideas create the stepping stone to understanding the social exchange theory. Social exchange theory equation is the ratio of outcome to cost in a relationship. The equation in the theory allows people to predict if a person will be satisfied, dissatisfied, terminate, or stay in the relationship. Strengths of Social Exchange Theory One strength of the Social Exchange Theory is that it depicts human nature perfectly. When it comes to human nature humans think about themselves before anyone else. Human nature objective is to gain or to win at the expense of others.
Thibaut and Kelley (1959) says, “When the interactions of a number of persons are observed, it usually becomes quite apparent that interaction is a highly selective matter, both with respect to who interacts with whom and with respect to what any pair of persons interact about” (p. 12). This shows how calculating humans can be when it comes to relationships. They only seek relationships to gain from it. One example of this a student becoming closer to a professor for their sources when it comes to a career or job, a better grade in the class, or a letter of recommendation.
The student does not want to learn anything from the professor or gain insight on the lecture, but use the professor for the resources they can provide for the student. Another strength of the Social Exchange Theory is that it is practical and easy to understand. This theory is easy to understand because it has a simple equation related to it. A person weighs their benefits and losses in certain situations. This theory is practical because it can easily be applied to man different situations such as business, relationships, and school.
It can also be applied to many of the relationships that people hold with one another. Social Exchange Theory was also easy to understand not too complicated for my partner and me. It was easy to think of many different situations where this theory can be applied and used. It is also easy enough to use on a day to day bases. Weakness of Social Exchange Theory In any field of research there are no theory that created with out any any form of limitation. with that said, in the social exchange theory there are several barriers that can be drawn out from this social ideology.
One limitation lies within the fact that the theory reduces all interpersonal relationships to a concept that is as vague as the economy market. In particular, “the exchange approach in sociology is described as the ‘economic analysis of noneconomic social’ situations”(Zafirovski, 2003). The theory makes bold assumptions that every interpersonal relationship are based off components such as cost, rewards and alternatives. The theory fails to take in account the variation in individual locations, and cultural upbringing that can associated within different societies.
Under this economy theory, there are people who are rich and people who are poor in satisfying their needs. In particular, “traditional societies pursuit of private goals has a tendency to become accessory in relation to the social interest since the community satisfies its members’ necessary or economic needs. ” (Zafirovski, 2003). This would constitute that People who live in traditional societies, where social norms are rigid, will have hardly have any cost, reward, alternatives to satisfy their needs.
On the oppose end, individuals who come from societies were social norms are more free, will have more abundant amount of act to play within the relational economy; Hence not every one social world works the same way. An additional drawback that can be found within the social exchange theory is the fact that the theory assumes that all human relationships are created, maintained and ended based on our choices. This social ideology fails to take in account the circumstance in which connections that we have with people are predetermined by ones life. An example of this limitation can be seen within families structures.
In life we do not have the choice to pick and choose what type of family we want to have connection with, we are born into them. unlike, the average relationship described by the theory, when cost are too high, we do not have the option pick and choose a new mothers, fathers, sister and or brother. The currency in our families always stays the same, no matter what we do our family will always be connected to us in some way. Real life application of Social Exchange Theory One application of the social exchange theory is romantic relationships and cheating. It is hard to tell if a person will stay with a partner after cheating.
When applied to social exchange theory allows the person to see the benefits of staying in the relationship or terminating it. Levine (2010) says, “A betrayal surely counts as a cost in the economy of a relationship, and from a social exchange perspective, the relational impact of a betrayal is likely dependent on such factors as the severity of the betrayal, comparison level, availability of alternatives, prior satisfaction with the relationship, and the level of prior investment” (p. 305). Levine explains how the social exchange theory would be applied when betrayed by a significant other.
The person who was betrayed would weigh the benefits of staying and time already into the relationship. Then they would compare it to ending the relationship. The person has to consider if losing all the time invested in the relationship is worth losing or is it better to try and fix it because they had such a good relationship before. This is when the theory is applied. A person had to be able to consider which is most beneficial for them. The person must consider time spent benefits of being single, or having a better option at the end.
Depending on their ratio of outcome to cost a person would be able to predict if the betrayed person will stay in the relationship or terminate. When it comes to the concept of practicality, the social exchange theory is ubiquitous in the practices of successful businesses, an example of a business that use the concept of social exchange theory to it’s advantages is Proactiv. Proactive has managed to developed in to a mass media promoting empire, it is very common to see a proactive ad in the everyday commercials, billboards and radio filled with celebrities.
In social exchange terms, Proactiv marketing division deliberately outweigh the cost of celebrity endorsee with the comparison level of increased company profits. This equation resulted in the outcome of increase “800 millions. . . revenues” a year. (Casserly, 2010) Social exchange theory allows companies like Proactiv to use limited resources to get strategies that enables them to satisfy their need by appealing to the senses of the consumers while increasing profit. Conclusion Since, the creation of The Social Exchange Theory in 1959, it’s impacts has led to practical way of interpreting interpersonal relationship.
Though its connection of notable disciplines in sociology and economy, we now have formula that aid in initiating, maintaining and sustaining relationships. Its impact on the development of communication has led to many student of communication not only to have a broader outlook of interpersonal communication but also better sense of the world.
