Social Exchange
The social exchange theory is a theory that believes people form relationships depending on the amount of rewards they may get out of it or what it may cost them to form and maintain these relationships. My day viewing my social interactions from the perspective of the social exchange theory began at 4:30 am when I was awoken by my best friend, Derry, telling me that she was leaving my house. She had come over the night before to hang out, have a glass of wine, and to try and get me out of my head. At 4:30 am, I got out of bed to lock the door behind her, when I noticed that my bottle of wine was missing, and she had it in her hand. I was baffled that she would take my wine without asking, as she has never done anything like this before. In this situation, she was rewarded because she now had a $50 bottle of wine that she didn’t pay for, and it came as a cost to me. More than me losing a bottle of wine I had bought, I was now questioning why she would do that. Our relationship is strong, and it is something that is worth fighting for, but I was still feeling uneasy about the situation. I called her before going back to bed to ask her about it, she said that she didn’t think I would mind, and that I could come get it the next day if it was a problem. I took a loss in this situation because I didn’t want to retrieve the bottle from her and have tension between us, so I decided to let her keep it. I analyzed the situation and realized that this was a
Throughout Peter Kivisto’s book Social Theory: Roots & Branches, he talks about the numerous different perspectives which essentially help distinguish our overall understanding of the contemporary
The processes that lead to social order are considered as intricate and premeditated, and not spontaneous. The construction of social order is the result, in reference to Blau’s Exchange Theory, of trust and solidarity achieved through repeated social exchange. This paper will explain how and why social exchange occurs and the significance of continual social exchange between two counterparts.
In exchange theory, a human being’s behavior has been perceived as a logical decision where one tries to optimize benefits while minimizing cost or pain. According to different sociologists, when someone engages in a social interaction they tend to weigh the reaction of other people about what they are doing or saying and their behaviour will be dictated by the behaviour of others. This, somehow, is similar to what we are seeing in Canadian marriage where a man’s or woman’s involvement in marriage is determined by economic factors (Hou & Myles,
The Social Penetration Theory is an explanation by two communication theorists, Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor. This theory attempts to explain how relational closeness develops. Since we all have hundreds of different relationships, with thousands of different people during our lifetime, it is an important theory to study and understand.
Social exchange theory includes the following concepts: success, stimulus, value, deprivation, satiation, aggression, and approval. Homans defined each of these concepts explicitly in his book and various articles. The success concept which he defines is the principle of reward. (Homans, 1983, p. 33) While stimulus is defined when a stimulus presents itself and it resembles a previously rewarded activity, that individual is likely to repeat that action again. (Homans, 1950, Chapter 4) Homans defined value as a system of rewards and punishments. (Homans, 1983, p. 32) Deprivation and satiation was defined as the more often a reward has recently been received, the less valuable further rewards become. And if forced for a long time to go without a certain reward, an individual will lose interest and move on. (Homans, 1983, p. 33) Lastly, aggression and approval falls under the principle of distributive justice. When behavior does not receive the expected reward the response is anger. Yet, when the individual receives a greater reward than what is expected or does not receive punishment he will be pleased. (Homans, 1950, Chapter 4).
Throughout the sports world there are many different players that have signature gesture that they are know for, but what people sometimes look past is that some of these famous gestures are actually their way to profess their faith. Some of the most famous gestures that are the athletes way to profess their faith and show the world what they believe in are gesture such as Tim Tebow’s thinking man pose or Stephen Curry’s point after making a basket. These are all very well recognized athletes that profess their faith on a very highly view stage where millions of people can see. To young kids who are looking from the outside at these famous and well know athletes profess their faith throughout it all and not to let the fact that people on
Social Exchange Theory – Social behavior exchange theory is an exchange between parties as a representative of consent and status (Homans, 1958, p.
The Social Exchange theory applies to everyone at one time or another. We make exchanges with friends, family, and in the workplace. We cooperate with others and make reasonable decisions to achieve a reward. Sometimes we make sacrifices with the hope of receiving something of value in return in the future.
The ability to create relationships based solely on mutual understandings and shared common interests have fed the social
The primary theorists, John Thibaut and Harold Kelley, made a list of assumptions that the Social Exchange theory is based on. This list falls into two categories; one that focuses on individuals, and one that describes the social exchange between two people (Unger & Johnson 604). The assumptions that the Social Exchange theory makes are about human nature and the nature of relationships. The first, as mentioned earlier, is that of reward and punishment. Humans seek rewards and avoid
To explain human relationships further, the social exchange theory can be another definite explanation to help distinguish how we feel to be with other people and how one perceives to be with them, either to rekindle their relationship or to question the decisions that make to be in a relationship (Kelley 1959). The social exchange theory can be defined as a term that allows behaviour to be exchanged to allow a relationship between two people to happen (Huston et al., 2013). An individual social life involves interactions between two people which can be viewed as social exchanges in terms of costs and benefits (Nakagawa et al., 2013). By taking the view of human relationships the social exchange theory argues that individuals engage in a cost benefit analysis which forms their relationship with others (Milkie et al., 2004). When the costs and benefits are equal in a relationship, it is defined as equitable (Siddiqui 2008). Moreover, romantic relationships may be difficult for some people as it involves interpersonal skills in order to make them mutually satisfying therefore requires constant maintenance. Recently, Psychologists have begun to look at the breakdown of relationships and the characteristics which requires them to fail. The breakdown of relationship is a theory which explains the failure of certain human relationships and the factors that may be involved such as lack
The social exchange theory is a theory that claims people make relationship decisions by assessing and comparing the costs and reward. Rewards are the positive outcomes we receive by being in the relationship, including friendship and love, fun and laughter, money or favors, support and assistance, and confirmation of our value. Costs are the negative outcomes that reflect a loss, such as loss of time, loss of freedom, financial loss, denigration of our self-esteem, and even psychological or physical abuse. I would apply the social exchange theory in this case study that the reward is Gilbert being/maintaining the star athlete and the costs is Coach Johnsons' expectations and Gilbert's attitude.
Interpersonal communication is a form of communication that takes place between two people who have an established relationship. There are many different levels of interpersonal communication and theories of interpersonal communication. One of the theories that is used to explain changes in social behavior is the social exchange theory. The social exchange theory proposes that social behavior is the result of an exchange process between two people. The basic concept of the exchange theory is that it emphasizes the cost between the interactions of people and their social environment. Exchange theory attempts to explain human behavior under the content of a balanced-equal ratio within the distribution of giving and receiving. "At the heart
After the graduation ceremony, the school organized an event for students to attend instead of going to a party and drinking. It was named project graduation, we all met back at the school at 10 pm and took the buses to an arcade place. I went with a group of friends I was close with in high school. At first, it was fun playing games, and riding rides, refreshments, and food were provided too. When my best friend Cristina, Jimmy and I were outside on line for a ride, another friend of mine Casey asked: “Can I ride with you guys”. I said ok and right away my snobby friend Cristina said: “there is no room”. Clearly there was room for the four of us, I am the type of person that treats everyone, equally uncool or not. I did not like how Cristina treated her, so I walked away with my other friend. A persons’ character determines his or her traits for us to be good people. I am a compassionate, responsible, and caring person. This became an ethical dilemma because I felt I needed to make a choice, stay best friends with Cristina or ignore my other friend and hurt her feelings. I believe all people should treat other how they would want to be treated by doing right by God.In the end, Cristina and I stopped being friends because treating people kindly and fairly is very important to my
The Social Penetration Theory explains why as relationships develop, communication moves from less intimate levels to more intimate, more personal levelsI can apply this theory to my professional as well as personal