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Social Exchange Theory Paper

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Social exchange theory fits this research study by identifying costs and benefits for dual-earner couples working an off-shifting arrangement. According to Dr. Harvey’s class lecture, individuals automatically weigh the costs and benefits of a choice and tend to make their decisions based on maximized benefits (Harvey, 2015a). The idea of people being reward seeking and avoiding punishment comes from years of work studying behavioral psychology. In order to avoid costs, families strive to reach benefits by strategizing and setting future goals. Individuals choose situations that will be rewarding based off of past experiences and people are able to consider possible alternatives that may arrive for the particular interaction (Smith & Hamon, …show more content…

The researchers supported the assumptions and concepts of social exchange theory and how it was used in the decision-making process of couples choosing an off-shifting arrangement. Pagnan et al.’s used interviews and questionnaires where the participants were asked to rate overall satisfaction of each member of their families and where the individuals identified costs and benefits of off-shifting (Pagnan et al., 2011).
Another assumption in social exchange theory is that partners reach a balance in the act of giving and taking. The findings in the research study supported this because the majority of the couples reported equal domestic labor work and childcare tasks (Pagnan et al., 2011). This finding would be different if only one partner worked or if the couple followed the traditional roles of the …show more content…

However, some of the concepts did not go into enough depth to fully connect social exchange theory. Pagnan and colleagues (2011) discussed the comparison levels of what other couples reported as their costs and benefits, but did not discuss the comparison level for alternatives. Even though the majority of the couples who were off-shifting stated that there were not any other alternatives to their working arrangements, the findings did not show specific results to the couples who had not been off-shifting the whole time they had

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