costs and rewards
Joseph Walsh 109044749
PSY 240 Tues. / Thurs. 11:30 – 12:50
Paper Assignment: “Win Win”
When forming relationships, costs and rewards play an influential role in our decision making process, where we determine whether we are going to continue engaging in a relationship or choose to terminate it, as explained in Doctor Lobel’s lecture on close relationships. This is a component of the social exchange theory that suggests humans are rational beings who evaluate each of their relationship’s worth based on an analysis of benefits and disadvantages. In the bigger picture, the theory of a cost-reward system involves basic human attraction, or what makes particular people more appealing to one another, and can provide context for why we like them and how relationships are formed, as summarized in The Social Animal by Elliot Aronson in Chapter 8. Generally, anything that comes from a relationship that is thought to be injurious or negative can be considered a cost, whereas rewards are any aspects that come from a relationship that are favorable or associated with being positive. The theory assumes that one’s general goal is to form relationships that, in due course, maximize rewards while keeping costs low. It can, at times, be thought of quantitatively as the worth of a relationship being equal to the sum of all rewards minus the sum of all costs. A movie that is abundant in examples of rewards and costs and illustrates how they affect diverse relationships is “Win-Win”, the story of a seemingly modest lawyer turned wrestling coach, who, in a moment of weakness, makes a shameful decision to exploit a sickly, old client for a monthly cash payout which ultimately causes friction in his many interpersonal relationships, old and new. “Win Win” displays the nature of the general cost-reward theory, demonstrating the conjecture that one tends to like people with similar opinions because
PSY 240 Tues. / Thurs. 11:30 – 12:50
Paper Assignment: “Win Win”
When forming relationships, costs and rewards play an influential role in our decision making process, where we determine whether we are going to continue engaging in a relationship or choose to terminate it, as explained in Doctor Lobel’s lecture on close relationships. This is a component of the social exchange theory that suggests humans are rational beings who evaluate each of their relationship’s worth based on an analysis of benefits and disadvantages. In the bigger picture, the theory of a cost-reward system involves basic human attraction, or what makes particular people more appealing to one another, and can provide context for why we like them and how relationships are formed, as summarized in The Social Animal by Elliot Aronson in Chapter 8. Generally, anything that comes from a relationship that is thought to be injurious or negative can be considered a cost, whereas rewards are any aspects that come from a relationship that are favorable or associated with being positive. The theory assumes that one’s general goal is to form relationships that, in due course, maximize rewards while keeping costs low. It can, at times, be thought of quantitatively as the worth of a relationship being equal to the sum of all rewards minus the sum of all costs. A movie that is abundant in examples of rewards and costs and illustrates how they affect diverse relationships is “Win-Win”, the story of a seemingly modest lawyer turned wrestling coach, who, in a moment of weakness, makes a shameful decision to exploit a sickly, old client for a monthly cash payout which ultimately causes friction in his many interpersonal relationships, old and new. “Win Win” displays the nature of the general cost-reward theory, demonstrating the conjecture that one tends to like people with similar opinions because