Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social Comparison and Social Exchange in Marital Relationships

  • Chapter
Entitlement and the Affectional Bond

Part of the book series: Critical Issues in Social Justice ((CISJ))

Abstract

During this century, the nature of marital relationships has changed considerably. This is particularly apparent from the classic Middletown studies conducted by the sociologists Robert and Helen Merrell Lynd (1929), who examined various aspects of life in a “typical” American city, including family life, earning an income, child rearing, religion, leisure, and social life, at the beginning of the century. The observations of these scholars on the state of marriage in Middletown indicate that, at all social levels, a husband was expected to provide a good living, while the most desired duty of a wife was being a good mother and a housekeeper and, in the business class, a social pacesetter. Remarkably, a high degree of companionship and openness between husband and wife were not regarded as essential to marriage. Both spouses had their own leisure activities, socializing mainly with their own gender, with joint pursuits being sparse. Moreover, both husband and wife took for granted that men and women were different creatures whose situations were nearly incomparable.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 2, 267–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alicke, M. D. (1985). Global self-evaluation as determined by the desirability and controllability of trait adjectives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1621–1630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allison, S. T., Messick, D. M & Goethals, G. R. (1989). On being better but not smarter than others: The Muhammad Ali effect. Social Cognition, 7, 275–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, N. H. (1968). Likableness ratings of 555 personality-trait words. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9, 272–279.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Austin, W. (1977). Equity theory and social comparison processes. In J. M. Suls & R. L. Miller (Eds.). Social comparison processes: Theoretical and empirical perspectives (pp. 279–305). Washington, D.C.: Hemisphere/Halstead.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biernat, M., & Wortman, C. B. (1991). Sharing of home responsibilities between professionally employed women and their husbands. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 844–860.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brickman, P., & Bulman, R. J. (1977). Pleasure and pain in social comparison. In J. M. Suls & R. L. Miller (Eds.), Social comparison processes: Theoretical and empirical perspectives (pp. 149–186). Washington, D. C: Hemisphere.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. D. (1990). Evaluating one’s abilities: Shortcuts and stumbling on the road to self-knowledge. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 26, 149–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P. (1980). Sociale vergelijking in liefdesrelaties: Ervaren ongelijkheid en relatie-satisfactie (Social comparison in love relationships: The perception of inequality and relationship satisfaction). In J. B. Rijsman & H. A. M. Wilke (Ed.), Sociale vergelijking-sprocessen: Theorie en onderzoek (Social comparison processes: Theory and research) (pp. 237–249). Deventer: Van Loghum Slaterus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P. (1990). Relational interaction satisfaction scale. In J. Touliatos, B. F. Perlmutter, & M. A. Straus (Eds.), Handbook of family measurement techniques (pp. 106–107). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P., Collins, R. L., Taylor, S. E., VanYperen, N. W., & Dakof, G. A. (1990). The affective consequences of social comparison: Either direction has its ups and downs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1238–1249.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P., Doosje, B.J., Jans, L. G. J. M., & Hopstaken, L. E. M. (1993). Perceived reciprocity, social support, and stress at work: The role of exchange and communal orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 801–811.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P., & VanYperen, N. W. (1989). Social comparison, equality, and relationship satisfaction: Gender differences over a ten-year-period. Social Justice Research, 3, 157–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P., & VanYperen, N. W. (1991). Referential comparisons, relational comparisons, and exchange orientation: Their relation to marital satisfaction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 709–717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P., VanYperen, N. W., Taylor, S. E., & Collins, R. L. (1991). Social comparison and the drive upward revisited: Affiliation as a response to marital stress. European Journal of Social Psychology, 21, 529–546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J. D. (1986). Similarity and uniqueness: The effects of attribute type, relevance, and individual differences in self-esteem and depression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 281–294.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cate, R. M., Lloyd, S. A., Henton, J. M., & Larson, J. H. (1982). Fairness and reward level as predictors of relationship satisfaction. Social Psychology Quarterly, 45, 177–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chassin, L., Zeiss, A., Cooper, K., & Reaven, J. (1985). Role perceptions, self-role congruence and marital satisfaction in dual-worker couples with preschool children. Social Psychology Quarterly, 48, 301–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, M. S., & Mills, J. (1979). Interpersonal attraction in exchange and communal relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 12–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, M. S., Ouellette, R., Powell, M. C., & Milberg, S. (1987). Recipient’s mood, relationship type, and helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 93–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, M. S., & Reis, H. T. (1988). Interpersonal processes in close relationships. Annual Review of Psychology, 39, 609–672.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conger, R. D., & Smith, S. S. (1981). Equity in dyadic and family interaction: Is there any justice? In E. E. Filsinger & R. A. Lewis (Eds.), Assessing marriage: New behavior approaches (pp. 217–231). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dancer, L. S., Gilbert, L. A. (1993). Spouses’ family work participation and its relation to wives’ occupational level. Sex Roles, 28, 127–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, B. (1984). A test of equity theory for marital adjustment. Social Psychology Quarterly, 47, 36–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, B., Balswick, J., & Halverson, C. (1983). Affective self-disclosure and marital adjustment: A test of equity theory. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 93–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feeney, J., Peterson, C., & Noller, P. (1994). Equity and marital satisfaction over the family life cycle. Personal Relationships, 1, 83–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, L. (1981). How affiliation affects stress in fear and anxiety situations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 1102–1117.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goethals, G. R. (1986). Fabricating and ignoring social reality: self-serving estimates of consensus. In J. M. Olson, C. P. Herman, & M. P. Zanna, (Eds.). Relative deprivation and social comparison: The Ontario symposium (Vol. 4, pp. 135–157). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J. (1984). On the apocryphal nature of inequity distress. In R. Folger (Ed.), The sense of injustice: Social psychological perpsectives (pp. 167–186). New York: Plenum.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hakmiller, K. L. (1966). Threat as a determinant of downward comparison. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Suppl. 1, 32–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatfield, E., Traupmann, J., Sprecher, S., Utne, M., & Hay, J. (1985). Equity and intimate relations: Recent research. In W. Ickes (Ed.), Compatible and incompatible relationships (pp. 1–27). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1984). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoorens, V. (1993). Self-enhancement and superiority biases in social comparison. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology (pp. 113-139). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kidder, L. H., Fagan, M. A., & Cohn, E. S. (1981). Giving and receiving: Social justice in close relationships. In M. J. Lerner & S. C. Lerner (Eds.), The justice motive in social behavior: Adapting to times of scarcity and change (pp. 235–259). New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladewig, B. H., & White, P. N. (1984). Dual-earner marriages: The family social environment and dyadic adjustment. Journal of Family Issues, 5, 343–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Latané, B., & Wheeler, L. (1966). Emotionality and reactions to disaster. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Supplement, 1, 95–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, G. S. (1980). What should be done with equity theory? New approaches to the study of fairness in social relationships. In K. J. Gergen, M. S. Greenberg, & R. H. Willis (Eds.), Social exchange: Advances in theory and research (pp. 27–55). New York: Plenum.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lujansky, H., & Mikula, G. (1983). Can equity theory explain the quality and the stability of romantic relationships? British Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 101–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynd, R. S., & Lynd, M. L. (1929). Middletown: A study in American culture. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.

    Google Scholar 

  • Major, B. (1993). Gender, entitlement, and the distribution of family labor. Journal of Social Issues, 49(3), 141–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marks, G. (1984). Thinking one’s abilities are unique and one’s opinions are common. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10, 203–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michaels, J. W., Edwards, J. N., & Acock, A. C. (1984). Satisfaction in intimate relationships as a function of inequality, inequity, and outcomes. Social Psychology Quarterly, 47, 347–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milardo, R. M., & Murstein, B. I. (1979). The implications of exchange-orientation on the dyadic functioning of heterosexual cohabitors. In M. Cook & G. Wilson (Eds.), Love and attraction: An international conference (pp. 279–285). Oxford: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, J., & Clark, M. (1982). Exchange and communal relationships. In L. Wheeler (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 121–144). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molleman, E., Pruyn, J., & Knippenberg, A. van (1986). Social comparison processes among cancer patients. British Journal of Social Psychology, 25, 1–13.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murstein, B. L., Cerreto, M., & MacDonald, M. G. (1977). A theory and investigation of the effect of exchange-orientation on marriage and friendships. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 39, 543–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peplau, A. (1983). Roles and gender. In H. H. Kelley, E. Berscheid, A., Christensen, J. H. Harvey, T. L. Huston, G. Levinger, E. McClintock, L. A. Peplau, & D. R. Peterson (Eds.), Close relationships (pp. 220–264). New York: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perloff, L. S., & Fetzer, B. K. (1986). Self-other judgments and perceived vulnerability to victimization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 502–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, L. R., & Maynard, J. L. (1981). Income, equity, and wives’ housekeeping role expectations: Bringing home the bacon doesn’t mean I have to cook it, too. Pacific Sociological Review, 24, 87–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pleck, J. H. (1985). Working wives, working husbands. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rachlin, V. C. (1987). Fair vs. equal role relations in dual-career and dual-earner families: Implications for family interventions. Family Relations, 36, 187–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reis, H. T. (1987). The nature of the justice motive: Some thoughts on operation, internalization, and justification. In J. C. Masters & W. P. Smith (Eds), Social comparison, social justice, and relative deprivation: Theoretical, empirical, and policy perspectives (pp. 131–150). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rofé, Y., Lewin, I. & Hoffman, M. (1987). Affiliation patterns among cancer patients. Psychological Medicine, 17, 419–424.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenblatt, A., & Greenberg, J. (1988). Depression and interpersonal attraction: The role of perceived similarity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 112–119.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, L. (1976). Worlds of pain. New York: Basic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarnoff, I., & Zimbardo, P. G. (1961). Anxiety, fear, and social affiliation. Journal and Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62, 356–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scanzoni, J. (1972). Sexual bargaining. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, R. B., & Keith, P. M. (1980). Equity and depression among married couples. Social Psychology Quarterly, 43, 430–435.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sedirides, C., Oliver, M. B. & Campbell, W. K. (1994). Perceived benefits and costs of romantic relationships for women and men: Implications for exchange theory. Personal Relationships, 1, 5–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sekaran, U. (1986). Dual-career families: Contemporary organizational and counseling issues. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shelton, B. A. & Daphne, J. (1993). Does marital status make a difference? Housework among married and cohabiting men and women. Journal of Family Issues, 14, 401–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. J., & Schroeder, D. A. (1984). Concurrent and construct validities of two measures of psychological equity/inequity. Psychological Reports, 54, 59–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snell W. E., Jr., & Belk, S. S. (1985). On assessing “equity” in intimate relationships. Representative Research in Social Psychology, 15, 16–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sprecher, S. (1986). The relation between inequity and emotions in close relationships. Social Psychology Quarterly, 49, 309–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sprecher, S. (1992). How men and women expect to feel and behave in response to inequity in close relationships. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55, 57–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steil, J. M., Turetsky, B. A. (1987). Is equal better? The relationship between marital equality and psychological symptomatology. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), Family processes and problems: Social psychological aspects. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Svenson, O. (1981). Are we all less risky and more skillful than our fellow drivers?. Acta Psychologica, 47. 143-48:.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. E., Buunk, B. P., & Aspinwall, L. G. (1990). Social comparison, stress and coping. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 16, 74–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. E., & Koivumaki, J. H. (1976). The perception of self and others; Acquaintanceship, affect, and actor-observer differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 33, 403–408.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tesser, A. (1988). Toward a self-evaluation maintenance model of social behavior. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 21, pp. 181–227). New York, Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thibaut, J. W., & Kelley, H. H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, D. A., & Arrowood, A. J. (1966). Self-evaluation, self-enhancement, and the locus of social comparison. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Suppl. 1, 40–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Traupmann, J., Petersen, R., Utne, M., & Hatfield, E. (1981). Measuring equity in intimate relationships. Applied Psychological Measurement, 5, 467–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Utne, M. K., Hatfield, E., Traupmann, J., & Greenberger, D. (1984). Equity, marital satisfaction, and stability. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 1, 323–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Avermaet, E., McClintock, C., & Moskowitz, J. (1978). Alternative approaches to equity: Dissonance reduction, pro-social motivation, and strategic accommodation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 8, 419–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanfossen, B. E. (1981). Sex differences in the mental health effects of spouse support and equity. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22, 130–143.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • VanYperen, N. W. (1992). Self-enhancement among major league soccer players: The role of importance and ambiguity on social comparison behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 1186–1198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • VanYperen, N. W., & Buunk, B. P. (1990a). A longitudinal study of equity and satisfaction in intimate relationships. European Journal of Social Psychology, 20, 287–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • VanYperen, N. W., & Buunk, B. P. (1990b). Opvattingen over anderen, de specificiteit van de vergelijkings-ander en sociale vergelijkings-processen (Opinions about others, the specificity of the comparison target, and social comparison processes). Nederlands, Tijdschrift voor de Psychologie, 45, 364–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • VanYperen, N. W., & Buunk, B. P. (1991a). Equity theory, communal and exchange orientation in cross-cultural perspective. Journal of Social Psychology, 131, 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • VanYperen, N. W., & Buunk, B. P. (1991b). Sex-role attitudes, social comparison, and relationship satisfaction. Social Psychology Quarterly, 54, 169–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • VanYperen, N. W., Buunk, B. P., & Schaufeli, W. B. (1992). Communal orientation and the burnout syndrome among nurses. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 173–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walster, E., Berscheid, E., & Walster, G. W. (1973). New directions in equity research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 25, 151–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walster, E., Walster, G. W., & Berscheid, E. (1978). Equity: Theory and research. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinstein, N. D. (1980). Unrealistic optimism about future life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 806–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wills, T. A. (1981). Downward comparison principles in social psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 90, 245–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. V. (1989). Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 231–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Nico W. VanYperen & Bram P. Buunk

Authors
  1. Nico W. VanYperen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bram P. Buunk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 63130-4899, USA

    Melvin J. Lerner

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Graz, A-8010, Graz, Austria

    Gerold Mikula

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

VanYperen, N.W., Buunk, B.P. (1994). Social Comparison and Social Exchange in Marital Relationships. In: Lerner, M.J., Mikula, G. (eds) Entitlement and the Affectional Bond. Critical Issues in Social Justice. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0984-8_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0984-8_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0986-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0984-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation