ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

›› 2012, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (4): 598-607.

• 研究前沿 • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Trade-off in Love: To Maintain or Restore Psychological Equity in the Process of Give and Take Among Romantic Partners

LI Jian;LI Yi-Ming   

  1. (1School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China)
    (2Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, Beijing, 100875, China)
    (3Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)
  • Received:2011-08-01 Revised:1900-01-01 Online:2012-04-15 Published:2012-04-15
  • Contact: LI Yi-Ming

Abstract: Both lovers and psychologists are interested in how people give and take is good for their personal and relationship well-being in romantic relationships. Based on early classic theories such as social exchange and interdependence theory, give and take among romantic partners can be defined as romantic exchange, and a substantial number of studies have been conducted to explore its basic psychological processes. In recent years, psychologists proposed a new theory to explain the complicated psychological mechanisms of romantic exchange and this theory was supported by empirical research. All these theories and research findings provide strong evidences for us to understand the underlying principles, characteristics and influential factors of romantic exchange. Future studies can pay more attention to the role of emotion and the automatic and controlled process in romantic exchange.

Key words: romantic relationship, psychological equity, social exchange, interdependence theory, mutual responsiveness