Although the concept of investments in romantic relationships has featured prominently in close relationships research, there have been no empirical analyses of different types of investments and their possible differential predictive power regarding relationship state or fate. With data from five independent samples, the authors offer and examine investments that differ in terms of their timing (past vs. planned) and materiality (tangible vs. intangible). Cross-sectional and longitudinal tests of hypotheses regarding these investment types provide evidence for the utility of considering specific types of investments in predicting a variety of important relationship factors, including commitment, stability, and the impact of breakup on relationship partners. Intangible investments and planned investments were found to be particularly robust predictors of key relational states and outcomes.
Agnew, C.R., Arriaga, X.B., & Wilson, J.E. (2008). Committed to what? Using the Bases of Relational Commitment Model to understand continuity and changes in social relationships . In J. P. Forgas & J. Fitness (Eds.), Social relationships: Cognitive, affective and motivational processes (pp.147-164). New York: Psychology Press.
2.
Agnew, C.R., Lehmiller, J.J., & Goodfriend, W. (2008). Looking forward together: The influence of future plans on romantic relationship commitment. Manuscript submitted for publication.
3.
Agnew, C.R., Van Lange, P.A.M., Rusbult, C.E., & Langston, C.A. (1998). Cognitive interdependence: Commitment and the mental representation of close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 939-954.
4.
Altman, I., & Becker, D.A. (1973). Social penetration: The development of interpersonal relationships. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
5.
Arriaga, X.B., & Agnew, C.R. (2001). Being committed: The affective, cognitive, and conative components of relationship commitment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1190-1203.
6.
Arriaga, X.B., Agnew, C.R., Capezza, N., & Lehmiller, J.J. (2008). The social and physical environment of relationship initiation: An interdependence analysis. In S. Sprecher, A. Wenzel, & J. Harvey (Eds.), Handbook of relationship initiation (pp. 197-215). New York: Psychology Press.
7.
Becker, H.S. (1960). Notes on the concept of commitment. American Sociological Review, 66, 32-40.
8.
Berscheid, E., & Reis, H.T. (1998). Attraction and close relationships. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (Vol. 2, 4th ed., pp. 193-281). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
9.
Bui, K.T., Peplau, L.A., & Hill, C.T. (1996). Testing the Rusbult model of relationship commitment and stability in a 15-year study of heterosexual couples. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 1244-1257.
10.
Canary, D. J., & Stafford, L. (Eds.). (1994). Communication and relational maintenance. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
11.
Clark, M.S., Mills, J., & Powell, M.C. (1986). Keeping track of needs in communal and exchange relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 51, 333-338.
12.
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/ correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Diener, E., Suh, E.M., Lucas, R., & Smith, H.L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress . Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276-302.
15.
Etcheverry, P.E., & Agnew, C.R. (2004). Subjective norms and the prediction of romantic relationship state and fate. Personal Relationships, 11, 409-428.
16.
Farrell, D., & Rusbult, C.E. (1981). Exchange variables as predictors of job satisfaction, job commitment, and turnover: The impact of rewards, costs, alternatives, and investments. Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 28, 78-95.
17.
Gollwitzer, P.M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 493-503.
18.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R.M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 410-422.
19.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R.M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 80-86.
20.
Kawada, C., Oettingen, G., Gollwitzer, P.M., & Bargh, J.A. (2004). The projection of implicit and explicit goals . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 545-559.
21.
Kelley, H.H., & Thibaut, J.W. (1978). Interpersonal relations: A theory of interdependence . New York: John Wiley.
22.
King, C.E., & Christensen, A. (1983). The relationship events scale: A Guttman scaling of progress in courtship. Journal of Marriage & Family, 45, 671-678.
23.
Le, B., & Agnew, C.R. (2003). Commitment and its theorized determinants: A meta-analysis of the investment model. Personal Relationships, 10, 37-57.
24.
Lehmiller, J.J., & Agnew, C.R. (2006). Marginalized relationships: The impact of social disapproval on relationship commitment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 40-51.
25.
Lehmiller, J.J., & Agnew, C.R. (2008). Commitment in age-gap heterosexual romantic relationships: A test of evolutionary and socio-cultural predictions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 74-82.
26.
Loehlin, J.C. (1992). Latent variable models: An introduction to factor, path, and structural equations (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
27.
MacCallum, R.C., Wegener, D.T., Uchino, B.N., & Fabrigar, L.R. (1993). The problem of equivalent models in applications of covariance structure models. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 185-199.
28.
McFarland, C., & Ross, M. (1987). The relation between current impressions and memories of self and dating partners. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13, 228-238.
29.
Murray, S.L., & Holmes, J.G. (1993). Seeing virtues in faults: Negativity and the transformation of interpersonal narratives in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 707-721.
30.
Pedahazur, E.J. (1982). Multiple regression in behavioral research (2nd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
31.
Rusbult, C.E. (1980a). Commitment and satisfaction in romantic associations: A test of the investment model. Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, 16, 172-186.
32.
Rusbult, C.E. (1980b). Satisfaction and commitment in friendships. Representative Research in Social Psychology, 11, 96-105.
33.
Rusbult, C.E. (1983). A longitudinal test of the investment model: The development (and deterioration) of satisfaction and commitment in heterosexual involvements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 45, 101-117.
34.
Rusbult, C.E., Arriaga, X.B., & Agnew, C.R. (2001). Interdependence in close relationships. In G. J. O. Fletcher & M. S. Clark (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Vol. 2. Interpersonal processes (pp. 359-387). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
35.
Rusbult, C.E., & Martz, J.M. (1995). Remaining in an abusive relationship: An investment model analysis of nonvoluntary dependence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 558-571.
36.
Rusbult, C.E., Martz, J.M., & Agnew, C.R. (1998). The Investment Model Scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Personal Relationships, 5, 357-391.
37.
Simpson, J.A. (1987). The dissolution of romantic relationships: Factors involved in relationship stability and emotional distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 683-692.
38.
Thibaut, J.W., & Kelley, H.H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. New York: John Wiley.
39.
Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (1996). Friendship and the banker's paradox: Other pathways to the evolution of adaptations for altruism. In W. G. Runciman & J. M. Smith (Eds.), Evolution of social behaviour patterns in primates and man . Proceedings of the British Academy (Vol. 88, pp. 119-143).
