Editing Social exchange theory (section)

==Applications==
{{more citations needed section|date=June 2010}}

The most extensive application of social exchange has been in the area of interpersonal relationships.<ref name="georgetown2005"/> However, social exchange theory materializes in many different situations with the same idea of the exchange of resources.  Self-Interest can encourage individuals to make decisions that will benefit themselves overall. Homans once summarized the theory by stating:

:Social behavior is an exchange of goods, material goods but also non-material ones, such as the symbols of approval or prestige. Persons that give much to others try to get much from them, and persons that get much from others are under pressure to give much to them. This process of influence tends to work out at equilibrium to a balance in the exchanges. For a person in an exchange, what he gives may be a cost to him, just as what he gets may be a reward, and his behavior changes less as the difference of the two, profit, tends to a maximum ("Theories Used in Research").

===Anthropology===
Other applications that developed the idea of exchange include field of [[anthropology]] as evidenced in an article by Harumi Befu, which discusses cultural ideas and [[social norm|norms]].  Lévi-Strauss is considered as one of the major contributors to the anthropology of exchange. Within this field, self-interest, human sentiment and motivational process are not considered.<ref name="Befu1977" /> Lévi–Strauss uses a [[Collectivism and individualism|collectivist]] approach to explain exchanges. To Lévi-Strauss, a social exchange is defined as a regulated form of behavior in the context of societal rules and norms.  This contrasts with psychological studies of exchange in which behaviors are studied ignoring the culture. Social exchanges from the anthropological perspective have been analyzed using the gift-giving phenomena. The concept of reciprocity under this perspective states that individuals can directly reward his benefactor or another person in the social exchange process.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=256704 |pmid=10134637|title=Citizenship Behavior and Social Exchange|journal=Academy of Management Journal|volume=37|issue=3|pages=656–69|year=1994|last1=Konovsky|first1=M. A.|last2=Pugh|first2=S. D.}}</ref> Lévi-Strauss developed the theory of cousin marriage based on the pervasiveness of gift-giving in primitive societies. The basis of this theory is the distinction between restricted exchanges, which is only capable of connecting pairs of social groups, and generalize exchange, which integrates indefinite numbers of groups.<ref name="Befu1977" />

===Relationships===
Throughout the theory, one can also end up losing relationships that were already established because the feeling of no longer being beneficial. One feels as if there is not longer a need for a relationship or communication due to lack of rewards. Once this happens, the process of looking for new partners and resources occurs. This allows a continuation of networking. One may go through this process quite frequently. A study applied this theory to new media (online dating). The study discovers the different factors involved when an individual decides to establish an online relationship.<ref name="online dating">{{cite journal |doi=10.5964/ijpr.v3isupp2.74|title=Factors Related to Initiating Interpersonal Contacts on Internet Dating Sites: A View from the Social Exchange Theory|journal=Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships|volume=3|pages=19–37|year=2009|last1=Shtatfeld|first1=Rivka|last2=Barak|first2=Azy|doi-access=free}}</ref> Overall the study followed the social exchange theory's idea, "people are attracted to those who grant them rewards".<ref name="online dating"/>

Another example is Berg's study about development of friendship between roommates. The research found how social exchange processes changed during the year by measuring [[Self-disclosure|self disclosure]]. According to the study, the amount one person rewards another and the comparison levels for alternatives become the most important factors in determining liking and satisfaction.<ref name="Auld, C. J. 1997">{{cite journal |first1=Christopher J. |last1=Auld |first2=Alan J. |last2=Case |year=1997 |title=Social Exchange Processes in Leisure and Non-leisure Settings: A Review and Exploratory Investigation |url=http://js.sagamorepub.com/jlr/article/view/810 |journal=Journal of Leisure Research |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=183|doi=10.1080/00222216.1997.11949793 |bibcode=1997JLeiR..29..183A |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Auld, C. and Alan C. conducted a study to discover what processes occur and what is experienced during social leisure relationships. They use the concept of reciprocity to understand their findings. The study concluded that meeting new people is often given as a major reason for participation in leisure activities, and meeting new people may be conceptualized as an exercise of reciprocity. In this case, reciprocity is perceived as a starting mechanism for new social relationships because people are willing to be helped by others, expecting that the help will eventually be returned.<ref name="Auld, C. J. 1997"/> A study conducted by Paul, G., called Exchange and access in field work tries to understand the relationships between the researchers and subjects. This study concludes that [[Bargaining]] helps to satisfy the more specific needs of the parties because greater risks are taken to obtain more information.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gray |first1=Paul S. |year=1980 |title=Exchange and Access in Field Work |journal=Journal of Contemporary Ethnography |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=309–331 |doi=10.1177/089124168000900303|s2cid=143608465 }}</ref> This study also introduces the concept of [[trust (social sciences)]] to determine the duration of relationships.

===Interracial marriage===
Patterns of [[interracial marriage]] have been explained using social exchange theory. Kalmijn<ref name="Kalmijn">{{cite journal |jstor=2580162 |doi=10.1093/sf/72.1.119|title=Trends in Black/White Intermarriage|journal=Social Forces|volume=72|issue=1|pages=119–146|year=1993|last1=Kalmijn|first1=M.}}</ref> suggests that ethnic status is offset against educational or financial resources. This process has been used to explain why there are more marriages between black men and white women than between white men and black women. This asymmetry in marriage patterns has been used to support the idea of a racial hierarchy. Lewis,<ref name="Lewis">{{cite journal |pmid=22347504 |pmc=3276508|bibcode=2012PLoSO...731703L|title=A Facial Attractiveness Account of Gender Asymmetries in Interracial Marriage|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=7|issue=2|pages=31703|last1=Lewis|first1=Michael B.|year=2012|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0031703|doi-access=free}}</ref> however, explains that the same patterns of marriage can be accounted for in terms of simple facial attractiveness patterns of the different gender by race groupings. Recent changes have seen an increase in black women marrying white men and a decrease in raw prevalence of interracial marriages when it comes to black women. There has also been a shift in the concentration of interracial marriage from mostly being between those with low education levels to those with higher levels of education.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fryer|first=Roland G|date=Spring 2007|title=Guess Who's Been Coming to Dinner? Trends in Interracial Marriage over the 20th Century|journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives|language=en|volume=21|issue=2|pages=71–90|doi=10.1257/jep.21.2.71|issn=0895-3309|citeseerx=10.1.1.169.3004}}</ref>

===Business===
Social exchange theory has served as a theoretical foundation to explain different situations in business practices. It has contributed to the study of organization-[[stakeholder (corporate)|stakeholder]] relationships, [[supply network]] relationships,<ref name=holm>Holmen, E. and Pedersen, A., [https://web.archive.org/web/20170808065426/https://impgroup.org/uploads/papers/201.pdf Knowledge and Ignorance of Connections between Relationships], 17th Annual IMP Conference
9-11 September 2001, Oslo, Norway, archived on 8 August 2017, accessed on 23 August 2024</ref> and [[relationship marketing]]. The [[investment model of commitment|investment model]] proposed by [[Caryl Rusbult]] is a useful version of social exchange theory. According to this model, investments serve to stabilize relationships. The greater the nontransferable investments a person has in a given relationship, the more stable the relationship is likely to be. The same investment concept is applied in relationship marketing. [[Database]]s are the major instrument to build differentiated relationships between organizations and customers. Through the information process, companies identify the customer's own individual needs. From this perspective, a client becomes an investment. If a customer decides to choose another competitor, the investment will be lost.<ref name="georgetown2005"/> When people find they have invested too much to quit a relationship or enterprise, they devote additional resources to the relationship to salvage their initial investment.

Exchange has been a central research thrust in [[business-to-business]] relational exchange.<ref name="Lambe, C. Jay 2001"/> According to a study conducted by Lambe, C. Jay, C. Michael Wittmann, and Robert E. Spekman, firms evaluate economic and social outcomes from each transaction and compare them to what they feel they deserve. Firms also look for additional benefits provided by other potential exchange partners. The initial transaction between companies is crucial to determining whether their relationship will expand, remain the same or will dissolve.<ref name="Lambe, C. Jay 2001"/> Holmen and Pedersen note that social exchange theory has contributed to the understanding of "connected" business relationships between firms.<ref name=holm />

===Work settings===
A study conducted by A. Saks serves as an example to explain engagement of employees in organizations. This study uses one of the tenets of social exchange theory to explain that obligations are generated through a series of interactions between parties who are in a state of reciprocal interdependence. The research identified that when individuals receive economic and socioemotional resources from their organization, they feel obliged to respond in kind and repay the organization. This is a description of engagement as a two-way relationship between the employer and employee. One way for individuals to repay their organization is through their level of engagement. The more engaged the employee are to their work, the greater amounts of cognitive, emotional, and physical resources they will devote to perform their job duties. When the organization fails to provide economic or emotional resources, the employees are more likely to withdraw and disengage themselves from their roles.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement|last = Saks|first = A.M.|date = 2006|journal = Journal of Managerial Psychology  |volume=21 |issue=7 |pages=600–19 |doi=10.1108/02683940610690169}}</ref> 

Another more recent study by M. van Houten which took place in institutions for vocational education shows how, in social exchange relationships between teachers, reciprocity and feelings of ownership, affection and interpersonal safety impact on individual professionals´ decisions on what to share with whom. Colleagues who never ´pay back´ and make actual exchange happen (that is, who consume rather than produce and share), risk being left out. The study also points out the possibility of ´negative rewards´: exchange of one's knowledge, materials or otherwise may enable someone else the misuse that what was shared and/or take credit somewhere in the team or organization. As such, interpersonal relationships and ´fair´ exchange appear important, as does some kind of mechanism for rewards and gratitude (possibly organization-wide), as these impact on individual professional discretion and the degree and success of exchange.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van Houten |first=Maarten M. |date=2022-12-15 |title=Interpersonal issues in knowledge sharing: the impact of professional discretion in knowledge sharing and learning communities |journal=Teacher Development |volume=27 |language=en |pages=116–132 |doi=10.1080/13664530.2022.2156590 |issn=1366-4530|doi-access=free }}</ref> 

===Citizenship behavior===
Social exchange theory is a theoretical explanation for [[organizational citizenship behavior]]. This study examines a model of clear leadership and relational building between head and teachers as antecedents, and organizational citizenship behavior as a consequence of teacher–school exchange.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/13603124.2010.524250|title=Social exchange theory as an explanation of organizational citizenship behaviour among teachers|journal=International Journal of Leadership in Education|volume=14|issue=4|pages=405–421|year=2011|last1=Elstad|first1=Eyvind|last2=Christophersen|first2=Knut Andreas|last3=Turmo|first3=Are|s2cid=144786025}}</ref> Citizenship behavior can also be shown with employees and their employers. This is shown through organizational identification which plays an important role in organizational citizenship behavior. An employee's identification with their employer plays a significant role in supporting and promoting organized citizenship behavior, serving as a mediating mechanism with citizenship behaviors, perceived organizational justice, and organizational support based on both the social exchange and social identity theory.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Dong |last2=Chen |first2=Xiao-Ping |last3=Holley |first3=Erica |title=Help yourself by helping others: The joint impact of group member organizational citizenship behaviors and group cohesiveness on group member objective task performance change |journal=Personnel Psychology |date=2017 |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=809–842 |doi=10.1111/peps.12209 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tinti |first1=Joel |last2=Venelli-Costa |first2=Luciano |last3=Vieira |first3=Almir |last4=Cappellozza |first4=Alexandre |title=The impact of human resources policies and practices on organizational citizenship behaviors |journal=Brazilian Business Review |date=1 November 2017 |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=636–653 |doi=10.15728/bbr.2017.14.6.6 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Online social networking and self-disclosure===
Understanding interpersonal disclosure in online social networking is an ideal application of social networking theory. Researchers have leveraged SET to explain self-disclosure in a cross-cultural context of French and British working professionals.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Posey | first1 = Clay | last2 = Benjamin Lowry | first2 = Paul | last3 = Roberts | first3 = Tom L. | last4 = Ellis | first4 = Selwyn | year = 2010 | title = Proposing the online community self-disclosure model: The case of working professionals in France and the UK who use online communities | ssrn = 1501447 | journal = European Journal of Information Systems | volume = 19 | issue = 2| pages = 181–195 | doi = 10.1057/ejis.2010.15 | s2cid = 14224688 }}</ref> They discover that reciprocation is the primary benefit of self-disclosure, whereas risk is the foundational cost of self-disclosure. They find that positive social influence to use an online community increases online community self-disclosure; reciprocity increases self-disclosure; online community trust increases self-disclosure; and privacy risk beliefs decrease self-disclosure. Meanwhile, a tendency toward collectivism increases self-disclosure. Similar research also leveraged SET to examine privacy concerns versus desire for interpersonal awareness in driving the use of self-disclosure technologies in the context of instant messaging.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Benjamin Lowry | first1 = Paul | last2 = Cao | first2 = Jinwei | last3 = Everard | first3 = Andrea | year = 2011 | title = Privacy concerns versus desire for interpersonal awareness in driving the use of self-disclosure technologies: The case of instant messaging in two cultures | ssrn = 1668113 | journal = Journal of Management Information Systems | volume = 27 | issue = 4| pages = 163–200 | doi = 10.2753/MIS0742-1222270406 | s2cid = 19287606 }}</ref> This study was also a cross-cultural study, but instead compared US and Chinese participants.