Relationship Theories

Attraction Theory

Social Exchange Theory

Equity Theory

Relationship Dialectics Theory

Relationship Rules Theory

The attraction theory holds that you develop relationships on the basis of such factors as physical appearance and personality.

You will mostly like people who are physically attractive over those who are unattractive.

People who live or work close to you will be more attractive rather than those who live further away.

I would be experiencing this theory if I was attracted to people who look similar to me or kind of like me.

Men are more interested in a girls physical attributes rather than her socioeconomic status. They like to find girls who are socioeconomically worse than them.

You will find yourself attracted to other people who are attracted to you.

It tries to answer the question of why some relationships develop and last and others do not. It is based on an economic model of profits and losses.

Rewards are anything that you want and willing to incur costs to obtain.

Costs are those things that you normally try to avoid, things that are difficult or unpleasant.

Profits = Rewards - Costs

People seek to develop the relationships that will give you the greatest profit.

If I had to buy a date that would be an example of a cost.

It tries to answer the same question as social exchange theory and uses the concepts of social exchange.

It claims that you develop and maintain relationships in which your ratio of rewards to costs is approximately equal to your partners.

It can be seen online if you respond you expect a response back, or if you get poked you should poke them back.

The society that I am in believes in having similar equity between the two people.

You both should work equally the same on the relationship.

It tries to answer the question of the conflicting motives that people in relationships often experience.

The theory argues that relationships experience tensions between at least three pairs of opposing motives or desires.

Closedness and openness, autonomy and connection, or novelty and predictability are the tensions that exist.

The three main ways to deal with the tensions are to accept the imbalance, exit the relationship,and rebalance your life.

I would be experiencing this if I not only met my own needs but also my partner's needs.

Each person within the relationship may experience different sets of desires.

Relationships are held together by adherence to certain rules. If the rules are broken the relationship may tank.

Friendship rules are anything from standing up for your friend to sharing information about their successes.

Romantic rules can be having substantial shared time together or remaining loyal and faithful to each other. They can vary from culture to culture.

Family rules are those that happen throughout the family. Who are you allowed to talk to, how can you talk about something, or even what you are able to talk about with the family.

Different families teach different rules about communication and what is and is not allowed.

Workplace rules that exist are to work very hard, be cooperative in teams, and avoid even the hint of sexual harassment.

I would be improving my workplace rules if I was to not form romantic relationships with co workers or to be polite to other workers.