Social approval – All other costs and rewards being equal, an individual will choose the alternative from which they expect to receive the most social approval.Immediate outcome – Long-term costs and rewards being equal, an individual will choose the alternative from which they expect the best immediate outcome.Long-term outcome – Immediate costs and rewards being equal, an individual will choose the alternative from which they expect the best long-term outcome.Lowest cost – Rewards being equal, an individual will choose the alternative from which they expect the lowest cost.Highest reward – Costs being equal, an individual will choose the alternative from which they expect the highest reward.

Most Profit – When faced with alternatives, every individual will calculate the costs and benefits of each and decide according to the outcome.Social exchange theory argues that people calculate the overall worth of a relationship by subtracting the costs of that relationship from its rewards.īased on this formula, we can see the different examples of relationships people form according to social exchange theory (McDonell et al., 2006, p. For example, the companionship of a friend. Rewards – the elements of a relationship which have a positive value to a person.For example, the money one spends to sustain a romantic relationship. Costs – the elements of a relationship which have a negative value to a person.Unlike economic exchange, however, the elements of social exchange are rather varied and cannot be reduced to a single quantitative exchange rate, such as market price.Īll approaches to social exchange theory are unified by the assumption that cost-benefit analysis drives relationship decisions.Īccording to social exchange theory, every relationship has the following components: Social exchange theorists generally compare all human interactions with the financial market. Homans (Homans, 1961) and most comprehensively developed by John W. Social exchange theory was founded by George C.

Chris Drew (PhD) Definition of Social Exchange Theory

Exchange theory social work journal