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Theories

Lawler's Affect Theory of Social Exchange: Exchange Theory

Social Exchange Theory is a theory presented by Lawler. Lawler wanted to showcase emotions as the center of the exchange process with the main goal of exchange being to maximize benefits and minimize costs (Robles, 2022). Emotions can have positive or negative effects on our relationships based on the benefits and costs of the relationship. The main supporting argument for this theory is that a person is expected to stay in a relationship as long as they are benefiting from the relationship itself. There are four structures involved in this theory: productive, negotiated, reciprocal, and generalized. Each of these structures differ in effects of emotion, nonseparability, and perception of shared responsibility. Nonseperability is the idea that you can't separate the contributions of the individual from the contributions of the group/relationship as a whole.

Emotion stems from every exchange no matter if the exchange was positive or negative. Love, anger, happiness, and fear among an endless number of emotions can stem from each exchange. Love is a particularly strong emotion that can stem from the exchange and can manifest itself in many different ways such as blushing, butterflies in your stomach, or in the case of my example above, back sweats. Love can be shown throughout the exchange process such as through engagements, deciding to become pregnant, or deciding to move in together.

As shown in the video, proposals are part of the exchange process. In this video you see Nick proposing to Jess which showcases a negotiated exchange. A negotiated exchange is an exchange that occurs between two people in which each individual comes to a contractual agreement based on cost and benefits. This particular exchange occurs on the meso level due to it occurring between two people and not on an individual or institutional level. Nick has already worked out the cost and benefits of marrying Jess and initiated the exchange by asking Jess to marry him. Jess quickly lists the benefits of marrying Nick such as raising a dog together and having kids and decided to agree to his proposal.

Ritual Theorizing on Emotions: Ritual Theory

The ritual theory emphasizes that ritual events and focused interaction may create connections and lead to social harmony (Robles, 2022). Rituals allow for groups to come together and share one common experience which provides strength for social interactions. Rituals are socially distinctive, routinized, contain varying roles of actors, and multiple people are involved. The ritual theory focuses on four different factors: a shared focus of attention, interactional pace, the interdependence of actors, and resources. The shared focus of attention concerns what people focus on during the ritual. The greater the shared focus of attention, the stronger the intensity of emotions connected to the ritual. Interactional pace refers to the rate at which interaction occurs and rhythmic motion. Interdependence of actors refers to the complexity and contributions of actors during the ritual. Resources refer to the human and non-human that are required for the ritual. These factors combined create different levels of emotional intensity, which in turn creates a stronger commitment to ritual beliefs and practices, as well as attachment to the members of the group.

Rituals can create many different emotional feelings; funerals may trigger sadness, birthdays may trigger happiness, and weddings may trigger a feeling of love. My example above shows how love and ritual can go hand in hand. In this ritual, Cece and Schmidt get married with the help of all their friends. The shared focus of attention rests on the bride and groom which creates an intense feeling of love between the couple and everyone who was in attendance. The interactional pace shown in this clip shows that the couple as well as those in attendance are very engaged in the ritual, full attention is given to listening to vows and witnessing the ritual practices. The interdependence of actors is high because each person involved is helping the wedding flow smoothly. The human resources shown are the bride, the groom, the officiant, and the bridal party. The non-human resources are the wedding rings, the floral garland, and the douchebag jar for the breaking of the glass. All of these factors contribute to the strong emotional intensity of love which will allow the people in this ritual to commit fully to the ritual and the people attending.

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Emotional Analysis #1: Place

When most people think of a place that is special to them they may think of home or church or even school, but when I think of the place that is the most special to me I think of the place where I lost a very important person in my life. My friend was involved in a car accident that took his life at the scene, I have grown very attached to this place because it brings me peace knowing his spirit could still possibly be there. Ewing (2020) explains that having a sense of "place" is a universal experience, however, it varies from person to person, culture, geographical location, and over time. The strongest emotion that I connect to this place is comfort. It may seem strange to be so fond of a place that brings so much sadness and grief, however, sometimes I feel peaceful here. There have been a lot of complications surrounding his death and because of this, I as well as his friends and family, have no access to a gravesite, memorial, or even urn to help us through the grieving process. Having something to help remember someone who had such a huge impact on me allows me to experience this sense of peace. We are often expected by society to "move on" after experiencing grief or loss (Ewing, 2020), but I cannot work through the healing process if I attempt to cut ties with an impactful moment of my life.

Since this place allows me to feel closer to someone I lost, I have developed a strong place attachment to it. I grew up in a very unstable environment, I never had a place that I would call "home" and I have discovered that a place that brings you a sense of home does not always have to be the place you live, go to school, or work; meaningful places have been found to be widely varied and niche (Manzo, 2005). Although this place brings me negative feelings, it is not uncommon to have positive and even negative experiences in a place that can bring you a sense of comfort. I have found that my strong sense of place attachment has affected my emotions in several different ways. At times when I come to this place and it has been messed up by the weather, cars, or just people who stopped by to visit I get a sense of anger. I have this feeling of responsibility in my attachment to keep it clean and to preserve everything exactly as it was left. Since I have now moved away and live far from this place I also experiencing a sense of longing and disconnect. I have been trying to find comfort and fulfillment through other experiences and places but nothing has brought me the same feeling as being at this place. Among all the other emotions I feel, I also experience sadness with this place. As much as I try and attach this place to the memories of my friend before his passing, sometimes I cannot help be feel grief and sadness knowing that this is where he took his last breath. Manzo (2005) explains that place experience can range from positive or negative and intimate or distant. The passing of my friend was a monumental and life-changing event and in the months following his death, I became so fixated on his crash site. Manzo's (2005) research found that places in which someone experiences an important or meaningful event create a significant bond with this place and experience and place become intertwined. This research has clarified this place attachment that I experience can be explained by my strong connection to my friend's death. This research has also found that negative experiences with place can also be used to help individuals find their place in the world and allow for growth. I have found that when I visit my place I experience a sense of clarity, almost as if I am being guided by a guardian angel.

As time passes my place attachment will change, however, this will not affect the importance I put on this place. The adaptation of my place attachment will allow me to continue to grow and heal from the tragedy and discover new places to find comfort in.

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Emotional Analysis #2: Gender

The emotion that I have always associated most heavily with gender is anger. I became a victim of sexual assault at a very young age and it expanded across several years of my life. My assault is something that has completely changed the course of my life and while I do not let it define me, I have learned and changed from it. I remember being told "this is just something all girls have to do" by my abuser. This is something that has replayed in my mind for over a decade and this is the first memory I have where I truly began to see the division and inequality between genders and uprooted the anger I experience when thinking about gender. The anger boiled over when I finally decided to come clean about the abuse I was facing and I was called a liar, slut, easy, among many other terrible names that no young girl should ever have to hear. My abuser on the other hand got off without as much as a slap on the wrist for what he put me through. Why is it that women are belittled and viewed as untruthful whenever they are the victims of abuse? Why do men get let off scot-free time after time?

In the years since my trauma, I have frequently taken note of the inequalities we face as women despite being told we live in a country that fights for equality for all. As noted in class, there are several things that can reinforce gender differences. Institutions like schools, courts, work and churches all contribute to inequality between genders. The court system supports gender inequality by constantly failing women like me who have experienced such terrible trauma and slowly stripping our rights away, such as our right to bodily autonomy. Schools reinforce gender differences by enforcing dress codes that sexualize young girls and giving special treatment for men's sports. In my personal experience, I witnessed my own church protect the man who abused me which created a lot of religious trauma for me.

It is easy to note that in almost all these cases of gender differences, men are seen as superior, and women are seen as weak and inferior. This leads me to question why this is and if this is something that can change. If you look back to the earliest events in history you will see that this is nothing surprising. We live in a world that places men on a higher pedestal than women, that is unless they show signs of feminity. There is this societal need for men to be masculine and strong which not only places a tremendous amount of pressure, it also affects women. MacArthur and Shields (2015) explained that we have put emphasis on emotions that are "feminine" and "not-feminine" and men are expected to show "non-feminine" emotions. If we as a society place so much pressure on men to not show signs of feminity, we enforce the idea that being feminine is weak. This is harmful to men because they can feel as if their emotions, which are a normal human experience, need to be suppressed. This is also harmful to women because if we are expected to view feminity as inferior and weak, we will continue to be oppressed. We can also note Brown's (2000) social identity theory in the ways in which we put each other into groups and tend to have biases toward other groups. If we focus on an us-vs-them mentality when it comes to men and women, it will create a neverending cycle. Placing differences between men and women creates a domino effect that causes such a strong gender divide. This goes to show that this is a systemic and deep-rooted issue that we cannot overcome.

As for my anger surrounding the topic of gender, this is something that will potentially never change. I am angry that I cannot walk outside without feeling safe. I am angry that I can get sexually assaulted for years and receive no justice. I am angry that I cannot expect the same treatment between me and my male coworkers. I am angry that I will not receive the same level of care at hospitals as men do. I am angry that there will never be real change.

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Reflection

Looking back at all of the topics I have learned throughout the semester, I can make meaningful connections between this material to my real life. These lectures will also help influence my decision-making and allow for me to see the world in a different light. Learning about emotions in the social world has really opened my eyes to my own emotions and what changes I can make to prioritize emotions. Since I am pursuing a career in medicine, it is important that I don't have any expectations on how or when the people around me decide to express their emotions. I think that understanding the emotional aspects of gender, culture, grief, and the race will help me in my future career. I will encounter people from all walks of life in the future and I believe this course will help me take a step back and critically analyze rather than jump to conclusions based off of someone's reactions. The emotional analysis we have done throughout the semester has truly allowed me to break down the emotions I have felt throughout the course of my life and in turn, will help me tremendously with my communication and emotional expression in the future. The exchange theory in particular will be useful for me because I will start weighing the costs and benefits in my exchanges because I tend to be very gullible and in the past have allowed people to take advantage of me and my kindness.

The most beneficial aspect of this semester is that I will be able to improve my personal relationships. Since I have struggled with showing my emotions and have always attempted to mask how I am truly feeling, I have created problems in my relationships with people I care about. I confined myself to a box where I only allowed myself to be happy which had a negative impact on my mental health and my relationships. It is important for me to stop distancing myself when I am hurting because it causes division between me and the people who mean the most to me. I can also use this information to help people discover healthy ways of expressing emotion and stop limiting their life experiences due to the fear of being perceived negatively by others. Overall, this course taught me to embrace everything I feel and to stop living in regret and start living. Emotions are normal and natural and you must not suppress them in order to grow.

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So what??

Questions may arise as to why we should care about emotions and the importance of emotions in the social world, however, there is no definitive answer to these questions. Everyone has their own opinions as to why emotions matter so the possibilities are endless. I personally believe that emotions are an extremely important part of the social world and our interactions. We live in a world full of differences, but one thing we all share is that we all experience emotions. Without emotions, I believe there would be no way to communicate in a way that anyone could understand. It's hard to connect to people if you can not share an emotional connection with them. It is impossible for us to function without emotional expression even if we try to suppress our emotions. Every memory we have experienced throughout our life has an emotion attached to it. We cannot continue to grow in a world that does not recognize the emotions exhibited in the social world. This is because emotions are everywhere, always.

Emotions in the social world should continue to be taught to people of all ages. If we can explain emotions to young children then we could see healthier emotional expressions from men and women. Continuing to teach and learn about emotions in the social world may help us destigmatize emotions surrounding important topics such as gender, race, and culture. Although we will probably never see stereotypes surrounding these topics in relation to emotion significantly change in our lifetime, teaching about emotions is a great step in enabling change. We must also rely on change from an institutional level; if everyone can learn about emotion in the social world then there can be hope for change.

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Citations

Brown, Rupert. 2000. “Social Identity Theory: past achievements, current problems and future challenges” European Journal of Social Psychology 30: 745-778

Ewing, Eve L. 2020. “Ghost in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side” University of Chicago Press: 124-198

MacArthur, Heather J. and Stephanie A. Shields. 2015. “There’s No Crying in Baseball, or Is There? Male Athletes, Tears, and Masculinity in North America” Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University 7(10): 39-46

Manzo, Lynne C. 2005. “For better or worse: Exploring multiple dimensions of place meaning” Journal of Environmental Psychology 25: 67-86

Robles, Josef C. 2022. “Ritual Theorizing on Emotions”

Robles, Josef C. 2022. “Exchange Theory and Affect Theory of Social Exchange”

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A look into my life...

My name is Hannah Fields and I am a current student at CSUF. I am a fourth-year Psychology major and my ultimate career goal is to become a pediatrician. I have been passionate about having a career in the medical field since I was a child and have narrowed my interest down to pediatrician in recent years due to the loss of a very close friend to an aggressive form of cancer. I also developed a very strong interest in psychology, more specifically health psychology, in high school. I knew going into college that this was something I wanted to pursue as the foundation of my education and career. I have many personal goals in my life but my main goal is to leave this life knowing that I made a difference.

The focus of this blog is to show my understanding of social relations and emotions and connect the information I have learned throughout the semester to my daily life. I believe that emotions are something that I have often overlooked in my life and I finally have the opportunity to break down everything I have felt and experienced over the years to be able to showcase this in a blog is important to me. This blog will cover theories, emotional analyses, overall reflection, and making meaningful connections between emotions and the social world.