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4 - Ethnicity, Interdependence, and the Investment Model of Commitment Processes

from Part I - Interdependence, Situations, and Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2020

By
Stanley O. Gaines  and
Deletha P. Hardin
Edited by
Laura V. Machia ,
Christopher R. Agnew  and
Ximena B. Arriaga
Laura V. Machia
Affiliation:
Syracuse University, New York
Christopher R. Agnew
Affiliation:
Purdue University, Indiana
Ximena B. Arriaga
Affiliation:
Purdue University, Indiana
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Summary

In the present chapter, we examine ethnicity as a potential moderator of interdependence processes within Rusbult’s investment model.Using Triandis’s theory of subjective culture (which contends that ethnic groups differ in the cultural values that they embrace) as a point of departure, we review empirical evidence concerning the hypotheses that Thibaut and Kelley’s original version of interdependence theory in general is limited to individualistic (rather than collectivistic) ethnic groups.We conclude that the evidence does not support Triandis’s hypotheses.Nevertheless, we argue that a revamped version of Triandis’s theory that incorporates elements of Kelley and Thibaut’s revised interdependent theory and Rusbult’s investment model can serve as the basis for developing new, testable hypotheses concerning ethnicity as a moderator of interdependence processes.Implications for the relevance of subjective culture to relationship science are discussed.

Keywords

Collectivismethnicityindividualisminvestment modelsubjective culture
Type
Chapter
Information
Interdependence, Interaction, and Close Relationships , pp. 74 - 92
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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