Social Exchange Theory

368 Words2 Pages
Social Exchange Theory Social exchange theory is a psychological theory; suggest that human beings make social decisions based on perceived costs and benefits. This suggestion asserts that people evaluate all social relationships to determine the benefits they will get out of them. The social exchange theory uses economic terms such as benefit, gain, cost, and payment to describe social situations. According to this supposition, people consciously and unconsciously evaluate every social situation in terms of what they will have to put into it, and relate this to the benefits they think they may get out of it. According to social exchange theory, people make these decisions based on their individual satisfaction level within the relationship. Social exchange theory could helpful in life which help human beings determining their individuals’ values and priorities in the group or society. When a person becomes knowledgeable of this theory, he or she can work towards having more balanced relationships. This knowledge can also provide awareness of what one’s own costs are to other people. Then, this theory could help to explain many family issues, such as a failed marriage. Based on the theory, one of the main reasons a marriage fails is because the costs for at least one person are outweighing the benefits. On the other hand, this theory has some disadvantage. For instance, this theory insists that humans are by nature “selfish” ready to terminate relationships where the costs outweigh the benefits. But is this always true? The theory ignore any relationship have humans emotion. When people do a decision is not completely depend on the rational thinking to understand what benefit is for their selves or what harmful is for their selves. Social exchange also can use in the school. In our classroom, teacher teach knowledge for students, students and their family
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