Social Exchange Theory is a social psychological and sociological perspective that explains social change and stability as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties. Social Exchange Theory posits that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives. The theory has roots in economics, psychology and sociology. Social Exchange Theory features many of the main assumptions found in rational choice theory and structuralism.
Read more about Social Exchange Theory: History, Basic Concepts, 12 Theoretical Propositions, Assumptions, Comparison Levels and Modes of Exchange, Critiques, Applications
Famous quotes containing the words social, exchange and/or theory:
“In good company, the individuals merge their egotism into a social soul exactly co-extensive with the several consciousnesses there present.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Let every woman ask herself: “Why am I the slave of man? Why is my brain said not to be the equal of his brain? Why is my work not paid equally with his? Why must my body be controlled by my husband? Why may he take my labor in the household, giving me in exchange what he deems fit? Why may he take my children from me? Will them away while yet unborn?” Let every woman ask.”
—Voltairine Decleyre (1866–1912)
“... the first reason for psychology’s failure to understand what people are and how they act, is that clinicians and psychiatrists, who are generally the theoreticians on these matters, have essentially made up myths without any evidence to support them; the second reason for psychology’s failure is that personality theory has looked for inner traits when it should have been looking for social context.”
—Naomi Weisstein (b. 1939)