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The Concept of Social Exchange Theory

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Words: 396 |

Page: 1|

2 min read

Published: May 19, 2020

Words: 396|Page: 1|2 min read

Published: May 19, 2020

“The adjustment one individual makes affects the adjustments the others must make, which in turn require readjustment.” — John Thibaut and Harold Kelley

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According to the textbook, the definition of Social Exchange Theory (SET) “is based on the notion that people think about their relationships in economic terms…People tally up the costs of being in a relationship and compare them to the rewards that are offered by being in that relationship.” The researchers associated with this theory are John Thibaut and Harold Kelley.

The key concepts of Social Exchange Theory are based on what could be viewed as a sort of reward system for all parties involved in a relationship. That’s not to say that every person gets an actual award simply for knowing another person or group of people, even though in some certain cases, that could be a part of it. Every human will experience some form of Social Exchange in their life at one moment or another. Whether you’re in elementary school deciding on who to exchange lunches with, or choosing a new partnership for your up-and-coming big time law firm.

Social Exchange exists in even the smallest of interactions and develops throughout our lives into bigger, more important interactions, if you will. The main concept of this theory is essentially that people examine the costs versus the rewards when it pertains to forming, or attempting to form a new or lasting relationship and the worth of that relationship is equal to the rewards minus the costs. If there are more rewards in a relationship, then a person is far more likely to stay in that one rather than a relationship with a lot of costs. People are going to commit to relationships where both parties are equally satisfied with mutual benefits. Much like monetary gain within the economy; when people meet, they exchange a certain level of emotional currency or baggage, if you will. This is not to say that every thriving relationship has only rewards with zero costs, rather just that the rewards of the bond remain higher than the costs. Relationships are an independent process which require work from both sides.

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The assumptions that Social Exchange Theory makes about human nature include the following statements:

  • Humans seek rewards and avoid punishments.
  • Humans are rational beings.
  • The standards that humans use to evaluate costs and rewards vary over time and from person to person.

Works Cited:

  1. Satrapi, M. (2003). Persepolis: The story of a childhood. Pantheon.
  2. An, K. (2017). The representations of Iranian women in Persepolis. Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 17(3), 1-12.
  3. Cooper, A. (2007). Comics and the postcolonial: Persepolis, national identity, and the graphic narrative. MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 53(4), 767-794.
  4. Crowder, T. (2012). Graphic Novels and the Narrative of War: The case of Persepolis. The Journal of Popular Culture, 45(4), 819-839.
  5. Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Anchor Books.
  6. Hosseini, M. (2016). The nationalization of Iranian oil in political cartoons. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 51(5), 697-709.
  7. Nejad, A. N., & Hosseini, R. M. (2012). Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and the plurality of resistance: portrayal of Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3(1), 169-176.
  8. Shariq, S. (2014). Representation of Iranian Revolution in Persepolis. Research Journal of English Language and Literature, 2(4), 239-245.
  9. Skelly, R. (2016). Persepolis: the dangers of a single story. Teaching English with Technology, 16(2), 31-40.
  10. Thompson, T. (2011). Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis as Bildungsroman. The Journal of Popular Culture, 44(6), 1166-1186.
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The Concept Of Social Exchange Theory. (2020, May 19). GradesFixer. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-concept-of-social-exchange-theory/
“The Concept Of Social Exchange Theory.” GradesFixer, 19 May 2020, gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-concept-of-social-exchange-theory/
The Concept Of Social Exchange Theory. [online]. Available at: <https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-concept-of-social-exchange-theory/> [Accessed 28 Mar. 2024].
The Concept Of Social Exchange Theory [Internet]. GradesFixer. 2020 May 19 [cited 2024 Mar 28]. Available from: https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-concept-of-social-exchange-theory/
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