Laypersons' Conceptions of Social Relationships: A Test of Contract Theory

Abstract

This study sought to test three hypotheses derived from contract theory concerning laypersons' conceptions of social relationships. Data collected in a questionnaire administered to male and female university students at one West German university and one college in the United States provided evidence for distinctions among three relationship types: loving or caring relationships, friend or associate relationships, and work relationships. Each relationship type is distinguished from the others on the basis of a relatively unique configuration of three characteristic features: affective climate, the primary goal (and profile of subsidiary goals) of participants, and the relative importance of various resources exchanged in the relationship. The evidence also suggests that individuals possess similar configurations in conceptualizing social relationships in various types of small groups and social relations in various spheres of institutionally organized social activity. No significant sex or nationality differences were observed.