exchange theory

Meaning: Exchange theory holds that people tend to act in ways that maximize perceived rewards and minimize perceived costs. Rewards can be material (money, help) or social (approval, affection, status). Costs include time, effort, and giving up alternatives. A relationship or behavior tends to continue when its perceived benefits outweigh its costs, and tends to end when they do not. Reciprocity, the expectation that favors will be returned, is central. Homans and Blau are the theorists usually linked to it.

On the MCAT: A passage describes an interaction, such as a person volunteering, trading favors with a coworker, or leaving a friendship, and asks which sociological perspective explains it. Cue words are cost, benefit, reward, reciprocity, and trade-off. Contrast it with symbolic interactionism (behavior follows the shared meanings of symbols), functionalism (social parts serve the stability of society), and conflict theory (groups compete over resources and power). Exchange theory and rational choice theory are usually presented together, as explanations at the level of individual interactions.

Common confusion: Students think the theory claims people consciously calculate and care only about money. The rewards are often social, and the weighing is of perceived costs and benefits, which may be unconscious. Also, it is a micro-level theory about individual exchanges, not a macro-level account of how institutions function.