Forms of Exchange and Integrative Bonds

Autor: David Melamed, Monica M. Whitham, Linda D. Molm
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: American Sociological Review. 77:141-165
ISSN: 1939-8271
0003-1224
DOI: 10.1177/0003122411434610
Popis: In this study we bring together two sociological traditions: experimental research on how different forms of exchange affect attachments to partners and relationships, and organizational research in natural settings on how embeddedness contributes to social capital. We conceptualize embeddedness in terms of the underlying forms of exchange—negotiated and reciprocal—that are associated with economic exchanges and the social relationships in which they are embedded. Building upon the reciprocity theory of social exchange, we test predictions of how relationship histories (i.e., different sequences of the two forms of exchange) and relationship contexts (i.e., embedding one form of exchange within an ongoing relation of the other form) modify effects of each form in isolation. Results from two experiments show that the reciprocal form of exchange, independent of close ties or personal associations, is critical for producing the strong trust and affective bonds typically associated with embedded relationships. A history or context of reciprocal exchange significantly boosts integrative bonds for negotiated exchange, whereas a history or context of negotiated exchange dampens integrative bonds for reciprocal exchange only moderately. The relative effects of history and context vary by actors’ positions of power.
Databáze: OpenAIRE