Section I: Interactional or Dyadic Focus

Lecture plan

I. Social exchange models
 
  • Role of personality variables
  • Costs and benefits (behavioral economy)
  • What maintains behavior
  • Personal gain vs. communal focus
  • Reciprocity (Quid pro Quo)

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     Commentary:

    These have been generally called "behavioral models." They emphasize
    constructs that implicate situational control of behavior, focusing on what
    spouses do rather than on their personalities. The consequences of actions
    are believed to account for more variance in satisfaction than personality
    variables. They tend to be like business arrangements applied to "love."
    People are often uncomfortable with this notion, that "love" is negotiated,
    that people seek personal gain at low personal cost, etc. This approach
    runs headlong into the voluntary choice, illusion of choice ideas that are
    so prevalent. (Just read some of the postings to the Marriage list!) The
    role of situational control of behavior is very important in these models.
    These models do not spend a lot of time worrying about the past history of
    people. The Halford et al. article tries to show the changes from the early
    behavioral models (BMT) and the newer versions, as described in his article.
    II. Performance Based Model (OMSP)

    The Oregon Marital Studies Program (OMSP)
            model is divided into three  major categories:

    There are four areas of Accomplishment:
    Pleasure Sine-Wave:
    This is an important conceptual aide that derives from the OMSP model.
    Marital satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not just bi-polar, but rather
    they are separate dimensions. The absence of satisfaction is not
    dissatisfaction! Be sure to copy the drawing of the pleasure sinewave.
    III. Social Learning Conceptions

     
     



     
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