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Rusbult's Investment Model - Coggle Diagram
Rusbult's Investment Model
Investment
The number of resources (tangible and intangible) that people will lose if they leave a relationship.
INTRINSIC INVESTMENT:
the things we put directly into the relationship e.g. money, possessions, effort and time etc.
EXTRINSIC INVESTMENT:
the things that are brought into people's lives via the relationship e.g. children, friends, shared memories etc.
Rusbult concluded that the bigger the investment size, the more likely people are to stay in the relationship.
Commitment
Rusbult argues that the main cause of relationship maintenance is commitment. It can help to explain why a dissatisfied partner may choose to stay in a relationship.
Commitment is a result of an investment they made that they do not want to go to waste - sunken cost theory.
Relationship Maintenance Mechanisms
ACCOMODATION:
acting in a way that promotes relationships e.g. not keeping score.
WILLINGNESS TO SACRIFICE:
putting partner's interests first.
FORGIVENESS:
forgiving partner's mistakes, both minor and serious.
POSITIVE ILLUSIONS:
being unrealistically positive about partner's qualities.
RIDICULING ALTERNATIVES:
minimising the advantage of potential alternatives and viewing them in a negative light.
Evaluation
Le and Agnew (2003)
reviewed 53 studies from 1970s-1999 and found that satisfaction, CLalt and investment size all determined commitment. Relationships where commitment was greatest were the most stable and lasted the longest.
Correlational findings cannot prove causation - it could be that the more committed you feel, the bigger the investments you make.
Model can explain
intimate partner violence
, Rusbult's study showed that those most likely to return to an abusive partner, made the greatest investment and had the fewest alternatives. The victims do not have to be satisfied to stay in the relationship.
The original model is limited as it doesn't recognise the complexity of investment and the influence of making
future plans
. Future plans make partners more committed because they want to see them work out.