social exchange theory

3. SOCIAL EXCHANGE
THEORY
A psychological theory that attempts to
explain the social factors that influence
how individuals interact within a
reciprocal relationship.

4. SOCIAL EXCHANGE
THEORY
The Basic formula for predicting
behavior
Behavior(profit) = reward of interaction – cost of interaction

5. The Main Idea
Social exchange theorist explain that although
individuals are constrained by role expectation.
They act within each role to maximize the benefits
they will receive and to minimize the cost to

6. THE MAJOR PROPONENTS
THIBAUT KELLER EMERSON HOMAN BLAU

7. George C. Homans
 Born in Boston, Massachusetts
August 11, 1910
 Homans entered Harvard College in 1928
with an area of concentration in English
and American literature.
 In the 1930s he attended a faculty-student
seminar at Harvard with Pareto.
 In 1939 he became a Harvard faculty member,
a lifelong affiliation in which he taught both
sociology and medieval history.
 In 1964 Homans was elected President of the
 American Sociological Association.

8. Homans continued…
 Homans’s work is divided into two phases
 The first phase is considered inductive and the second
phase is considered deductive.
 Credited as the founder of behavioral sociology
and the social exchange theory.
 Other social exchange theorists: John Thibaut,
Harold Kelley, Peter Blau.
 Died in Cambridge, Massachusetts May 29,
1989.

10. Link to Behavioral Psychology
 Operant conditioning: the use of consequences
to modify the occurrence and form of behavior.
- Skinner and the pigeon experiment
 “This kind of psychologist is not interested
in how the behavior was learned: ‘learning
theory’ is a poor name for his [Skinner’s] field.
Instead, he is interested in what determines the rate of emission
of learned behavior, whether pecks at a target or something else.”
-Homans
Sources: http://www.reference.com/search?q=operant%20conditioning

11. Operant Conditioning
 Satiation: the rate of behavior falls off if the behavior is
often reinforced.
 When the pigeon is given much more corn each time it pecks, the less
hungry it will become and the less it pecks.
 Extinction: the rate of emission of behavior stops when
it is not reinforced.
 If the pecking is not reinforced with corn, eventually the pigeon will stop
pecking.
 Cost: aversive stimulation, results in a decrease in the
emission of behavior.
 Fatigue is an example of a “cost.”
 Other examples: A Clockwork Orange, treatment for alcoholism

12. An Exchange Paradigm
 Homans notes that Skinner’s pigeon experiment cannot really
be an exchange since the behavior of the pigeon hardly
determines the behavior the psychologist.
 In the case of two men, however, where exchange is real and
determination is equal, “each is emitting behavior reinforced to
some degree by the behavior of the other.”
 Smiling, nodding, furrowing of the brow, etc.
 Talk show hosts
 NOTE: The concern is not how each learned in the past the
behavior he emits or the behavior he finds reinforcing.
 Values: reinforcers; that which strengthens a response.
 “As he emits behavior, each man may incur costs, and each
man has more than one course of behavior open to him.”

13. An Exchange Paradigm
“The problem is not, as it is
often stated, merely, what
a man’s values are, what
he has learned in the past
to find reinforcing, but how
much of any one value his
behavior is getting him
now.”
- Homans

14. Peter Michael Blau
Son of a secular jew
Hitler marched into vienna in
1938. Peter’s family was
elected to stay.
Escaped from anschluss,
miraculuos chance to go to
college,
A succesfull career and
mobility in USA
His family had been killed in
Auschwtiz in 1942.
1918 Vienna – Austria
2002

15. Exchange and Power in Social Life
 Homan was an important influence on Blau’s work
 Blau was interested in examining the processes that
guide face to face interaction
 Blau argued that such interaction is shaped by a
reciprocal exchange of rewards both tangible and
intangible.
 Blau maintaines Simmel’s assertation that every
interaction can be understood as a form of exchange in
which the participant gives the other “ more than he had
himself possessed.”
 He is interested in building a theoretical bridge that would
link sociological studies of everyday interactions between
individual and that examined the collective or structural

16.  “To speak of social life is to speak of the association
between people- their associating in work and in
play, in love and in war, to trade or to worship, to
help or to hinder. It is in the social relations men
establish that their interests find expression and
desire become raelized.”
 Peter M. Blau
 Exchange and Power in Social life, 1964

17. JOHN THIBAUT AND HAROLD KELLY
 John Thibaut was a social psychologist, one of the last
graduate students of Kurt Lewin. He spent a number of
years as a professor at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, and was the first editor of the Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology.
 The research group which he headed at UNC was
regularly attended by Harry Upshaw, Jack Brehm, Kurt
Back, and Edward E. Jones. He is best known for "A
Social Psychology of Groups", co-authored by his long-time
collaborator Harold Kelley.
 The examination of social exchange led John Thibaut
and Harold Kelley to develop social exchange theory, a
process which was facilitated by Thibaut spending a year
at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral
Sciences where he had significant interaction with
Kenneth Arrow.

18. JOHN THIBAUT AND HAROLD KELLY
 Harold Kelley (February 16, 1921 – January 29,
2003) was an American social psychologist and
professor of psychology at the University of
California, Los Angeles. His major contributions have
been the development of interdependence theory
(with John Thibaut),the early work of attribution
theory,and a lifelong interest in understanding close
relationships processes.

19. JOHN THIBAUT AND HAROLD KELLY
 In 1959 they
Developed from earlier work by the likes of Kelley an
d George Homans, this is based on the concept th
at people try to maximise the rewards from a relati
onship - eg: attention, affection -
while minimising the costs -
eg: time and effort, dealing with the other person's
emotional problems.
 Rewards received should at least equal rewards give
n.
 The concept tends to assume that people are const
antly calculating costs and benefits in their relations
hips.

21. RICHARD EMERSON
 Emerson (1972a) adopted the language and principles of
behavioral psychology to form a theory of social relations.
However, he quickly moved beyond behavioral principles to
the formation of more complex propositions regarding the
emergence of various kinds of social structures. Here the
theory picks up the Simmelian focus of Blau’s work as well as
the concern with emergent properties and complex social
structures. Emerson (1972b), like Blau (1964, 1986), viewed
the major task of exchange theory as the creation of a
framework in which the primary dependent variable is social
structure and structural change. The major task was eminently
sociological, not psychological, even though all three theorists
explicitly encorporated into their thinking notions about the
psychology of actors. Emerson and Cook’s subsequent work
(e.g., Cook and Emerson 1978) adopted a more cognitive
perspective on the actors involved in social exchange. Molm’s
(1981, 1987) earlier work extended the original behavioral
underpinnings of the theory.

22. RICHARD EMERSON
 A key concept in Emerson’s exchange theory of
power is the idea that exchange relations can be
balanced or imbalanced. A power inequality results
from an imbalance in power relations between two or
more actors. An exchange relation is balanced if
both parties are equally dependent on each other for
exchange (or resources of value). If they are equally
dependent, they have equal power. The central idea
that power is based on dependence allows for the
specification of ways in which dependencies are
altered so that they affect the balance of power in
the exchange relation and in networks of exchange
relations.

23. Social Exchange Theory in relation to family
 Social exchange theory can be used to explain why
couples marry and divorce, have children, make
major purchase decisions (houseand vehicles), or
relocate the family to a new city. According to
exchange theory, we as individuals are motivated out
of self-interest and that we make decisions based on
maximizing our rewards or profits and minimizing our
costs. This is the main premise of social exchange
theory.

24. Social Exchange Theory key assumptions
1. Humans are rational beings.
 Nye (1982) states that “within the limitations of the information
that they [humans] possess and their ability to predict the future,
they make the choices that will bring the most profit” (p.23). In
other words, humans make rational/sensible decisions based on
the amount of information available to them at that moment in
time and that these decisions are made in order to receive the
greatest rewards with the least amount of costs.
A single mother may be presented with the opportunity for a promotion at work.
She must make a rational decision, using the information available to her at that
time, of whether or not to accept the new position. She will take into
consideration the rewards (increased salary, new title, prestige) and the costs
(additional child care costs, more time away from her children, increased work
load and responsibilities) when making her decision. If she accepts the new
position, she’s anticipating that the rewards will outweigh the costs.

25. Social Exchange Theory key assumptions
2. Individuals must experience costs in order to obtain
future rewards.
 Nye (1979) explains this assumption as “all behavior is
costly in that it requires expenditure of energy and
preempts time that might otherwise produce other
rewards”
a student decides to begin studies towards a Masters degree. student will
experience numerous costs during their studies such as: time and energy
studying and attending class, additional expenses, and/or more time away from
their family. However, in the long run, the ultimate reward of obtaining their
Masters Degree will outweigh all of the costs. The student chooses to adapt to
and cope with all of the costs associated with obtaining the advanced degree in
order to achieve it.

26. Social Exchange Theory key assumptions
3. “the standards that humans use to evaluate rewards
and costs differ from person to person and can vary
over the course of time”
 Nye (1982) holds a similar assumption that“individuals
vary in the value they place on the specific objects,
experiences, relationships, andpositions” (p. 23). This
contrast in the evaluation of rewards and costs may be
attributed tocultural, religious, or economic differences
between individuals.
The rewards associated withobtaining a family pet may be perceived differently
by different family members. One membermay view having a family dog as a
reward for home security reasons while other members of thefamily may
receive the reward of companionship from the pet

27. Social Exchange Theory key assumptions
4. Social exchanges are regulated by the norm of
reciprocity
 Bagarozzi (1993) indicates that this assumption, “in the
form of behavioral reciprocity, was adopted by
behaviorists who hypothesized that satisfying marriages
were those where high rates of positive reinforces and
low rates of punishments were reciprocally exchanged
between spouses” (p. 412). The above stated example
is a very good description of the norm of reciprocity.
The more an individual receives/experiences rewards
the more they will reciprocate similar rewarding actions
or rewards that are meaningful to the other person

28. Social Exchange Theory key assumptions
5. individuals are motivated by self-interest
 Klein and White (1996) indicate that “individuals are
unilaterally motivated by self interest-individuals seek
things and relationships they regard as beneficial for
themselves” (p. 63).
 Schaffer and Lia-Hoagberg (1994) note that “humans
avoid relationships, interactions, and feeling states that
are dissatisfying or costly and seek out situations and
experiences that are gratifying, pleasurable, or
rewarding” (p. 153).
pregnant women will make choices whether or not to obtain
prenatal care based on their perceptions of the rewards and costs
they and their family will receive from the care.

29. Social Exchange Theory key concepts
1. Rewards and Costs
Kleinand White (1996) define rewards and costs as: a
reward is anything that is perceived as beneficial to an
actor’s interests…although costs may be negative
rewards-things perceived as not beneficial to an actor’s
self-interest-we should be careful to also include as implicit
costs cases in which rewards are missed or forgone. (p.
65)
Nye (1982) adds to the descriptions of these two concepts
and states that “in general, we can learnwhat is rewarding
to people in society both by observing their behavior and
by asking them whatthey like or do not like” (p. 14). We are
also able to determine what is costly to an individual
byfollowing the same process of observing behaviors and
questioning the individual about their likesand dislikes.

30. Social Exchange Theory key concepts
2. Profit or Maximizing utility
 Profit, as described by Nye (1982), “can be determined in
terms of rewards and punishments involved in a
contemplated sequence of actions” (p. 15). Klein and
White (1996) define profit in terms of a ratio of rewards to
costs and that “actors rationally calculate this ratio for all
possible choices in a situation and then choose the
action they calculate will bring the greatest rewards or
the least costs” (p. 66). Individuals will make decisions
for themselves or their families based on the predicted
amount of profit they will receive from the choice.

31. Social Exchange Theory key concepts
3. Comparison Level (CL) and Comparison Level
forAlternatives (CL+).
 These concepts were developed by Thibaut and Kelley.
Thibaut and Kelley (1959) defined Comparison Level as
“a standard by which the person evaluates the rewards
and costs of a given relationship in terms of what he feels
he deserves” (p. 21). Klein and White(1996) further
explain this concept as “the comparison (CL) of what
others in your position have and how well you are doing
relative to them” (p. 66). For example, a wife may
compare the benefits of her marriage to other women
who live in a similar marital environments. The concept of
Comparison Level is slightly different from the concept of
Comparison Level for Alternatives.

32. Social Exchange Theory key concepts
3. Comparison Level (CL) and Comparison Level
for Alternatives (CL+).
 Comparison Level for Alternatives is explained by Klein
and White (1996) as “how well you are doing relative to
others outside of your position but in positions that supply
an alternative choice” (p. 66). The wife may not only
compare her benefits relative to women in other
marriages, but she may also make an alternative
comparison of the rewards of her current marriage to the
possible rewards of being divorced or remarrying. The
Comparison Level of Alternatives is very subjective. If the
wife perceives that she will receive more benefits or
rewards if she divorces her husband she is more likely to
leave her current marriage.

33. Social Exchange Theory application in the family
Social exchange theory has numerous applications to working
with families. It was noted during a brief literature review that
social exchange theory has been applied to the distribution
of housework and child caring responsibilities, divorce, family
violence, relationship satisfaction, decisions regarding
prenatal care, and planning for marriage.