Outline And Evaluate Two Theories On The Maintenance Of Relationships 24 Marks 
Outline and evaluate two theories on the maintenance of relationships (24 marks)
The social exchange theory proposed that social behaviour is viewed as a series of exchanges between individuals, where each individual attempts to maximise their rewards and minimise their costs. In 1959, Thibaut & Kelley outlined a four-stage model of long-term relationships. The couple explores the rewards and costs in a variety of relationships and ‘costs out’ the relationship, identifying the sources of profit and loss. The couple then settles into a relationship, and the exchange of rewards becomes predictable, until a point where interactions become fully established and the couple have ‘settled down’. These actions are known as the sampling, bargaining, commitment, and institutionalisation stages of relationship maintenance; however, underlying these four stages, individuals have comparison levels where they consider previous and other peoples relationships against their own as well as comparing their relationship with other possibilities.
Though many of the central assumptions of exchange theory were supported by research, it soon became clear that for most people, profit is less important than fairness in relationships. Extending on the social exchange model, Walster et al. (1978) developed the equity theory, explaining how social exchange works in real-life romantic relationships. The theory suggested that inequity in relationships is seen as having the potential to create dissatisfaction, and four new key stages were proposed. First, individuals try to maximise rewards and minimise negative experiences in a relationship. Then, the couple will negotiate the distribution of rewards to ensure fairness (achieved through trade-offs or compensations). Inequitable relationships will produce dissatisfaction, where the ‘loser’ will feel dissatisfaction more acutely (the greater the degree of perceived unfairness, the greater the sense of dissatisfaction). If the ‘loser’ feels
The social exchange theory proposed that social behaviour is viewed as a series of exchanges between individuals, where each individual attempts to maximise their rewards and minimise their costs. In 1959, Thibaut & Kelley outlined a four-stage model of long-term relationships. The couple explores the rewards and costs in a variety of relationships and ‘costs out’ the relationship, identifying the sources of profit and loss. The couple then settles into a relationship, and the exchange of rewards becomes predictable, until a point where interactions become fully established and the couple have ‘settled down’. These actions are known as the sampling, bargaining, commitment, and institutionalisation stages of relationship maintenance; however, underlying these four stages, individuals have comparison levels where they consider previous and other peoples relationships against their own as well as comparing their relationship with other possibilities.
Though many of the central assumptions of exchange theory were supported by research, it soon became clear that for most people, profit is less important than fairness in relationships. Extending on the social exchange model, Walster et al. (1978) developed the equity theory, explaining how social exchange works in real-life romantic relationships. The theory suggested that inequity in relationships is seen as having the potential to create dissatisfaction, and four new key stages were proposed. First, individuals try to maximise rewards and minimise negative experiences in a relationship. Then, the couple will negotiate the distribution of rewards to ensure fairness (achieved through trade-offs or compensations). Inequitable relationships will produce dissatisfaction, where the ‘loser’ will feel dissatisfaction more acutely (the greater the degree of perceived unfairness, the greater the sense of dissatisfaction). If the ‘loser’ feels