Amara and Jaden have been married for five years. Amara feels increasingly dissatisfied because she works full-time, manages all the household bills, and cooks every evening, whilst Jaden works part-time and spends his free time gaming. Amara feels that the effort she invests is far greater than the rewards she receives, whereas Jaden is highly content with their arrangement.
Which one of the following statements correctly applies a theory of romantic relationships to explain Amara's dissatisfaction?
According to Social Exchange Theory, Amara is experiencing a 'minimax' state, where her rewards are maximized and her costs are minimized, causing relationship dissatisfaction.
According to Equity Theory, Jaden is experiencing under-benefitting, which explains why he is highly content with the unequal distribution of chores and bills.
According to Rusbult's Investment Model, Amara's high level of day-to-day investment acts as a barrier to ending the relationship, which directly causes her to feel resentful.
According to Equity Theory, Amara is experiencing under-benefitting, which leads to feelings of anger and resentment because she perceives an unfair ratio between her inputs and outcomes compared to Jaden's.
Practise AQA A Level Psychology Relationships with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 70 questions covering Factors affecting attraction, Theories of romantic relationships, Online relationships, and Parasocial relationships, matched to the AQA A Level Psychology (7182) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.