Resource Theory of Social Exchange

People tend to describe their interpersonal encounters in terms of emotions and attitudes. After a party, we may remark: “It was an interesting evening,” “I felt very much at home,” “It was a drag,” or “I felt left out.” These statements do not describe what happened at the party; rather, they refer to the effect the party had on us. Expressions of mood, important in themselves, encourage us to ask such questions as: What excites or bores us? When do we feel included in or excluded from the group? More generally, we ask: What happens when two or more people interact? Usually, exchanges of certain “commodities” take place, and our satisfaction or dissatisfaction with an encounter depends on the outcome of these transactions. In many situations, the exchange is quite evident. In a shop, the buyer gives money and receives merchandise. At work, performance is exchanged for money. In other situations, the transaction may be less obvious. For example, I analyze a political situation, and you listen with interest and remark admiringly, “I never thought about that aspect before.” In another exchange, I smile at you, seeking your company, and you say, “We really should get together more often.” In the fi rst example, information was exchanged for an expression of respect. This exchange led to the remark “It was an interesting evening.” In the second example, the exchange of personal affection makes us feel accepted and wanted. If expressions of friendship, admiration, and knowledge are commodities, then a party is no less a marketplace than is the stock exchange. Extending the notion of exchange to include all interpersonal experiences, we offer an apparently simple framework for analyzing social behavior. However, new questions arise from this concept. We know what satis fi es people in the stock market. If we buy and sell stock at a pro fi t, we describe the transaction in positive terms. We also know that in order to obtain desired merchandise, we have to give the shopkeeper a certain amount of money. But what can we do to obtain love? Can we be happy when our love is repaid with money? What should we give in return for respect? In general, do rules of economic exchange apply also to interpersonal exchange? Resource Theory of Social Exchange