Abstract
Much of social life involves interactions between individuals or corporate actors in dyads, groups, organizations or networks that can be viewed as social exchanges. This chapter presents an overview of the main theories of social exchange focusing on the key contributors in sociology, including George Homans, Peter Blau, Richard M. Emerson and those whose work subsequently built on their original formulations. The theories that have been developed in recent decades have focused on the social structures created by repeated exchanges and the ways in which these structures both constrain and enable actors to exercise power and influence. Other related social processes addressed within the exchange tradition include interpersonal commitment, trust, fairness, procedural and distributive justice, coalition formation and collective action. Recent work also focuses on emotions and their role in social exchange. The methodological challenges of studying social exchange in the laboratory and in the world outside the lab are addressed as well as links between exchange theory and topics under study by economic sociologists and network scholars more broadly, including Internet-mediated exchanges and their growing significance.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander, J., Munch, R., Smelser, N., & Giesen, B. (1990). The micro-macro link. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Axelrod, R. (1984). The evolution of cooperation. New York: Basic Books.
Bacharach, S. B., & Lawler, E. J. (1981). Bargaining: Power, tactics and outcomes. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc.
Bearman, P. (1997). Generalized exchange. The American Journal of Sociology, 102, 1383–1415.
Berger, J., Cohen, B., & Zelditch, M., Jr. (1972). Status characteristics and social interaction. American Sociological Review, 37, 241–255.
Berger, J., Zelditch, M., Jr., Anderson, B., & Cohen, B. (1972). Structural aspects of distributive justice: A status value formation. In J. Berger, M. Zelditch Jr., & B. Anderson (Eds.), Sociological theories in progress. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Bienenstock, E. J., & Bonacich, P. (1992). The core as a solution to exclusionary networks. Social Networks, 14, 231–243.
Bienenstock, E. J., & Bonacich, P. (1993). Game-theory models for exchange networks: Experimental results. Sociological Perspectives, 36, 117–135.
Bienenstock, E. J., & Bonacich, P. (1997). Network exchange as a cooperative game. Rationality and Society, 9, 937–965.
Blau, P. M. (1955). The dynamics of bureaucracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley.
Blau, P. M. (1986). Exchange and power in social life (2nd printing). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
Borch, C., & Willer, D. (2006). Power, embedded games and coalition formation. Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 30, 77–111.
Chen, Y., Friedman, R., Yu, E., Fang, W., & Lu, X. (2009). Supervisor-subordinate guanxi: Develo** a three-dimensional model and scale. Management and Organization Review, 5(3), 375–399.
Cheshire, C. V. (2005). A sociological analysis of generalized information exchange. Stanford University.
Cheshire, C., & Antin, J. (2009). Order, coordination and uncertainty. In K. S. Cook (Ed.), eTrust: Forming relationships in the online world (pp. 266–291). New York: Russell Sage Foundation Publications.
Cheshire, C., & Cook, K. S. (2004). The emergence of trust networks under uncertainty–Implications for internet interactions. Analyse & Kritik, 26(1), 220–240.
Cheshire, C., Gerbasi, A., & Cook, K. S. (2010). Trust and transitions in modes of social exchange. Social Psychology Quarterly, 73, 176–195.
Cook, K. S., & Emerson, R. M. (1978). Power, equity and commitment in exchange networks. American Sociological Review, 43, 721–739.
Cook, K. S., & Emerson, R. M. (1984). Exchange networks and the analysis of complex organizations. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 3, 1–30.
Cook, K. S., Emerson, R. M., Gillmore, M. R., & Yamagishi, T. (1983). The distribution of power in exchange networks: Theory and experimental results. The American Journal of Sociology, 89, 275–305.
Cook, K. S., & Gerbasi, A. (2006). Homans and Emerson on power: Out of the Skinner box. In A. Javier Trevino (Ed.), George C. Homans: History, theory and method (pp. 157–176). New York: Paradigm Publishers.
Cook, K. S., & Gillmore, M. R. (1984). Power, dependence and coalitions. In E. J. Lawler (Ed.), Advances in group processes (pp. 27–58). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Cook, K. S., & Hardin, R. (2001). Norms of cooperativeness and networks of trust. In M. Hechter & K.-D. Opp (Eds.), Social norms (pp. 327–347). New York: Russell Sage.
Cook, K. S., & Hegtvedt, K. A. (1986). Justice and power: An exchange analysis. In H. W. Bierhoff, R. L. Cohen, & J. Greenberg (Eds.), Justice in social relations (pp. 19–41). New York: Plenum.
Cook, K. S., & Yamagishi, T. (1992). Power in exchange networks: A power-dependence formulation. Social Networks, 14, 245–265.
Cook, K. S., Yamagishi, T., Cheshire, C., Cooper, R., Matsuda, M., & Mashima, R. (2005). Trust building via risk taking: A cross-societal experiment. Social Psychology Quarterly, 68(2), 121–142.
De Jong, J., Schalk, R., & De Cuyper, N. (2009). Balanced versus unbalanced psychological contracts in temporary and permanent employment: Associations with employee attitudes. Management and Organization Review, 5(3), 329–351.
Ekeh, P. (1974). Social exchange theory: The two traditions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Emerson, R. (1962). Power-dependence relations. American Sociological Review, 27, 31–41.
Emerson, R. (1972a). Exchange theory, Part I: A psychological basis for social exchange. In J. Berger, M. Zelditch Jr., & B. Anderson (Eds.), Sociological theories in progress (pp. 38–57). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Emerson, R. (1972b). Exchange theory, Part II: Exchange relations and networks. In J. Berger, M. Zelditch Jr., & B. Anderson (Eds.), Sociological theories in progress (pp. 58–87). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Emerson, R. M. (1976). Social exchange theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 2, 335–362.
Emerson, R. (1987). Toward a theory of value in social exchange. In K. S. Cook (Ed.), Social exchange theory (pp. 11–58). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Faust, K., & Wasserman, S. (1992). Centrality and prestige: A review and synthesis. Journal of Quantitative Anthropology, 4, 23–78.
Friedkin, N. E. (1992). An expected value model of social power: Predictions for selected exchange networks. Social Networks, 14, 213–229.
Friedkin, N. E. (1993). An expected value model of social exchange outcomes. In E. J. Lawler (Ed.), Advances in group processes (pp. 163–193). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Guseva, A., & Rona-Tas, A. (2001). Uncertainty, risk, and trust: Russian and American credit card markets compared. American Sociological Review, 66, 623–646.
Harkness, S. (2011). Consequences of rewards: The creation, perpetuation and erosion of social inequality. Dissertation, Stanford University.
Heath, A. F. (1976). Rational choice and social exchange: A critique of exchange theory. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Heckathorn, D. D. (1984). A formal theory of social exchange: Process and outcome. Current Perspectives in Social Theory, 5, 145–180.
Heckathorn, D. D. (1985). Power and trust in social exchange. In E. J. Lawler (Ed.), Advances in group processes(pp. 143–167). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Homans, G. C. (1958). Social behavior as exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63, 597–606.
Homans, G. C. (1961). Social behavior: Its elementary forms. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
Homans, G. C. (1974). Social behavior and its elementary forms. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.
Homans, G. C. (1984). Coming to my senses: The autobiography of a sociologist. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
Huber, J. (1991). Macro-micro linkages in sociology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Jasso, G. (1980). A new theory of distributive justice. American Sociological Review, 45, 3–32.
Jasso, G. (1986). A new representation of the just term in distributive justice theory: Its properties and operation in theoretical derivation and empirical estimation. Mathematical Sociology, 12, 251–274.
Jasso, G. (1998). Studying justice: Cross-country data for empirical justice analysis. Social Justice Research, 11, 193–209.
Jasso, G. (2001). Rule finding about rule making: Comparison processes and the making of rules. In M. Hechler & K.-D. Opp (Eds.), Social norms (pp. 348–393). New York: Russell Sage.
Kollock, P. (1994). The emergence of exchange structures: An experimental study of uncertainty, commitment, and trust. The American Journal of Sociology, 100, 313–345.
Kollock, P. (1999a). The economies of online cooperation: Gifts and public goods in cyberspace. In M. A. Smith & P. Kollock (Eds.), Communities in cyberspace (pp. 220–239). London: Routledge Press.
Kollock, P. (1999b). The production of trust in online markets. In E. J. Lawler, M. Macy, S. Thyne, & H. A. Walker (Eds.), Advances in group processes (pp. 99–123). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Kuwabara, K. (2011). Cohesion, cooperation, and the value of doing things together: How economic exchange creates relational bonds. American Sociological Review, 76, 560–580.
Lauterbach, D., Truong, H., Shah, T., & Adamic, L. (2009). Surfing a web of trust: Reputation and reciprocity on couchsurfing.com. In Proceedings of the 2009 international conference on computational science and engineering (pp. 346–353).
Lawler, E. J. (2001). An affect theory of social exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 107(2), 321–352.
Lawler, E. J., Ford, R. S., & Blegen, M. A. (1988). Coercive capability in conflict: A test of bilateral deterrence versus conflict spiral theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 51, 93–107.
Lawler, E. J., Thye, S. R., & Yoon, J. (2008). Social exchange and micro social order. American Sociological Review, 73, 519–542.
Lawler, E. J., & Yoon, J. (1993). Power and the emergence of commitment behavior in negotiated exchange. American Sociological Review, 58, 465–481.
Lawler, E. J., & Yoon, J. (1996). Commitment in exchange relations: Test of a theory of relational cohesion. American Sociological Review, 61, 89–108.
Lawler, E. J., & Yoon, J. (1998). Network structure and emotion in exchange relations. American Sociological Review, 63, 871–894.
Lawler, E. J., Yoon, J., & Thye, S. R. (2000). Emotion and group cohesion in productive exchange. The American Journal of Sociology, 106, 616–657.
Leik, R. K. (1992). New directions for network exchange theory: Strategic manipulation of network linkages. Social Networks, 14, 309–323.
Leik, R., & Leik, S. (1972). Interpersonal commitment as a balancing mechanism in social exchange. Conference presentation at Pacific Sociological Association, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Lovaglia, M. J. (1994). Relating power to status. Advances in Group Processes, 11, 87–111.
Lovaglia, M. J. (1995). Power and status: Exchange, attribution, and expectation states. Small Group Research, 26, 400–426.
Macy, M. W., & Skvoretz, J. (1998). The evolution of trust and cooperation between strangers: A computational model. American Sociological Review, 63, 638–660.
Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the western pacific: An account of native enterprise and adventure in the archipelagoes of Melansian New Guinea. London: Routledge.
Mark, N. P. (2002). Cultural transmission, disproportionate prior exposure, and the evolution of cooperation. American Sociological Review, 67, 323–344.
Mark, N. P. (2003). Culture and competition: Homophily and distancing explanations for cultural niches. American Sociological Review, 68, 319–345.
Markovsky, B., Skvoretz, J., Willer, D., Lovaglia, M. J., & Erger, J. (1993). The seeds of weak power: An extension of network exchange theory. American Sociological Review, 58, 197–209.
Markovsky, B., Willer, D., & Patton, T. (1988). Power relations in exchange networks. American Sociological Review, 5, 101–117.
Mauss, M. (1923). Essais sur le don. formes et raison de l’échange dans les sociétés archaïques. In Sociologie et Anthrophologie. Paris: PUF.
Molm, L. D. (1979). The effects of reinforcement differences and disruptions of social exchange in an alternative task situation. Social Psychology Quarterly, 42, 158–171.
Molm, L. D. (1980). The effects of structural variations in social reinforcement contingencies on exchange and cooperation. Social Psychology Quarterly, 43, 269–282.
Molm, L. D. (1985). Relative effects of individual dependencies: Further tests of the relation between power imbalance and power use. Social Forces, 63, 810–837.
Molm, L. (1988). The structure and use of power: A comparison of reward and punishment power. Social Psychology Quarterly, 51, 108–122.
Molm, L. (1990). Structure, action, and outcomes: The dynamics of power in social exchange. American Sociological Review, 55, 427–447.
Molm, L. (1994). Is punishment effective? Coercive strategies in social exchange. Social Psychology Quarterly, 57, 75–94.
Molm, L. (1997a). Coercive power in social exchange. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Molm, L. (1997b). Risk and power use: Constraints on the use of coercion in exchange. American Sociological Review, 62, 113–133.
Molm, L. D. (2003). Power, trust, and fairness: Comparisons of negotiated and reciprocal exchange. Advances in Group Processes, 20, 31–65.
Molm, L. D. (2007). Experiments on exchange relations and exchange networks in sociology. In M. Webster & J. Sell (Eds.), Laboratory experiments in the social sciences (pp. 379–406). Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.
Molm, L. (2010). The structure of reciprocity. Social Psychology Quarterly, 73, 119–131.
Molm, L., Collett, J., & Schaefer, D. (2007). Building solidarity through generalized exchange: A theory of reciprocity. The American Journal of Sociology, 113, 205–242.
Molm, L., & Cook, K. S. (1995). Social exchange and exchange networks. In K. S. Cook, G. A. Fine, & J. S. House (Eds.), Sociological perspectives on social psychology (pp. 209–235). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Molm, L., Peterson, G., & Takahashi, N. (1999). Power in negotiated and reciprocal exchange. American Sociological Review, 64, 876–890.
Molm, L., Quist, T. M., & Wiseley, P. A. (1994). Imbalanced structures, unfair strategies: Power and justice in social exchange. American Sociological Review, 49, 98–121.
Molm, L., Takahashi, N., & Peterson, G. (2000). Risk and trust in social exchange: An experimental test of a classical proposition. The American Journal of Sociology, 105, 1396–1427.
Molm, L., Whitham, M. M., & Melamed, D. (2012). Forms of exchange and integrative bonds: Effects of history and embeddedness. American Sociological Review, 77, 141–165.
Montgomery, J. (1996). The structure of social exchange networks: A game-theoretic reformulation of Blau’s model. Sociological Methodology, 26, 193–225.
Radaev, V. (2002). Entrepreneurial strategies and the structure of transaction costs in Russian business. Problems of Economic Transition, 44, 57–84.
Radaev, V. (2003). Co** with distrust and contract infringement in the emerging Russian markets. In R. Hardin (Ed.), Distrust. New York: Russell Sage Corporation.
Rice, E. R. W. (2002). The effect of social uncertainty in networks of social exchange. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University.
Ruef, M. (2003). A sociological perspective on strategic organization. Strategic Organization, 1(2), 241–251.
Shah, S. K., & Levine, S. S. (2003, August). Towards a theory of large-scale generalized exchange. Conference presentation at American Sociological Association, Theoretical Issues in Economic Sociology Session. Atlanta, GA.
Skvoretz, J., & Willer, D. (1991). Power in exchange networks: Setting and structural variations. Social Psychology Quarterly, 54, 224–238.
Skvoretz, J., & Willer, D. (1993). Exclusion and power: A test of four theories or power in exchange networks. American Sociological Review, 58, 801–818.
Stolte, J. R., & Emerson, R. M. (1977). Structural inequality: Position and power in network structures. In R. L. Hamblin & J. H. Kunkel (Eds.), Behavioral theory in sociology (pp. 117–138). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
Suhonen, E., Lampinen, A., Cheshire, C., & Antin, J. (2010, November). Everyday favors: A case study of a local online gift exchange system. In Proceedings of the 16th ACM international conference on Supporting group work (pp. 11–20).
Takahashi, N. (2000). The emergence of generalized exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 105, 1105–1134.
Takahashi, N., & Yamagishi, T. (1996). Social relational foundations of altruistic behavior. Japanese Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 36, 1–11.
Takahashi, N., & Yamagishi, T. (1999). Voluntary formation of a generalized exchange system: An experimental study of discriminating altruism. Japanese Journal of Psychology, 70, 9–16.
Taylor, L. S., Fiore, A. T., Mendelsohn, G. A., & Cheshire, C. (2011). “Out of my league”: A real-world test of the matching hypothesis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(7), 942–954.
Thibaut, J. W., & Kelley, H. H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. New York: Wiley.
Thye, S. R. (2000). A status value theory of power in exchange relations. American Sociological Review, 65, 407–432.
Thye, S. R., Willer, D., & Markovsky, B. (2006). From status to power: New models at the intersection of two theories. Social Forces, 84, 1471–1495.
Uzzi, B. (1996). The sources and consequences of embeddedness for the economic performance of organizations: The network effect. American Sociological Review, 61, 674–698.
Whitmeyer, J. M. (1997a). Applying general equilibrium analysis & game theory to exchange networks. Current Research in Social Psychology, 2(2).
Whitmeyer, J. M. (1997b). The power of the middleman—A theoretical analysis. Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 22(1), 59–90.
Willer, D., & Anderson, B. (1981). Networks, exchange and coercion: The elementary theory and its applications. New York: Elsevier.
Willer, D., Markovsky, B., & Patton, T. (1989). Power structures: Derivations and applications of elementary theory. In J. Berger, M. Zelditch, & B. Anderson (Eds.), Sociological theories in progress: New formulations (pp. 313–353). New York, NY: Sage Publications.
Willer, R., Flynn, F. J., & Zak, S. (2012). Structure, identity, and solidarity: A comparative field study of generalized and direct exchange. Administrative Science Quarterly, 57(1), 119–155.
Yamagishi, T. (1995). Social dilemmas. In K. S. Cook, G. A. Fine, & J. S. House (Eds.), Sociological perspectives on social psychology. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Yamagishi, T., & Cook, K. S. (1993). Generalized exchange and social dilemmas. Social Psychology Quarterly, 56(4), 235–248.
Yamagishi, T., Cook, K. S., & Watabe, M. (1998). Uncertainty, trust and commitment formation in the United States and Japan. The American Journal of Sociology, 104, 165–194.
Yamagishi, T., Gillmore, M. R., & Cook, K. S. (1988). Network connections and the distribution of power in exchange networks. American Journal of Sociology, 93, 833–851.
Yamagishi, T., Horita, Y., Takagishi, H., Shinada, M., Tanida, S., & Cook, K. S. (2009). The private rejection of unfair offers and emotional commitment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(28), 11520–11523.
Ziegler, R. (1990). The Kula: Social order, barter and ceremonial exchange. In M. Hechter, K.-D. Opp, & R. Wippler (Eds.), Social institutions: Their emergence, maintenance and effects. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cook, K.S., Cheshire, C., Rice, E.R.W., Nakagawa, S. (2013). Social Exchange Theory. In: DeLamater, J., Ward, A. (eds) Handbook of Social Psychology. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6772-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6772-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6771-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6772-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)