Social Exchange Theory History, Slides of Social Theory

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SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY

SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY

 Definition

 social exchange theory is a social psychological and sociological perspective that explains social exchange and stability as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties.

 theory posits that human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analyses and the comparison of alternatives

History cont.

Homans summarized the system of social exchange theory into three propositions

1. Success proposition – when a person is rewarded for his or her actions, he or she tends to repeat the action.
2. Stimulus proposition – the more often a particular stimuli has resulted in a reward in the past, the more likely it is that a person will respond to it.
3. Deprivation – the more often in the recent past a person has received a particular reward, the less valuable any further unit of that reward becomes.

Why the theory was developed

 To help people understand relationships well; why some relationships work while others fail.

 To explain why we choose to start and continue only certain relationships.

 To explain communication and interaction, as well as the factors governing interaction in humans.

Is there any improvement to the theory

 The first major publication regarding Social Exchange Theory, entitled “The Social Psychology of Groups,” was published by John Thibault and Harold Kelley in 1952. The theory was later refined in the laboratory by two sociologists at University of Washington named Richard Emerson and Karen Cook. This work started in 1978 and continued throughout the 1980s.

Example

Katherine Miller poses many objections to Social Exchange Theory in her 2005 publication. She says Social Exchange Theory assumes that the intimacy achieved in relationships is linear in nature, despite many relationships skipping traditional steps or regressing.

Application of the theory in communication

 Social exchange theory enhances interpersonal communication as it develops from shallow relations to intimate relationships. Persons are not only aware of what is around them but also aware of their awareness.

 This theory implicates that human beings are aware of each other’s concerns and needs thus this enhances effective communication amongst people.