Record keeping in two types of relationships.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Relationship Science

Background:

• Distinctions between communal and exchange relationships are crucial in social psychology.
• Previous research (Clark & Mills, 1979; Mills & Clark, 1982) established theoretical differences in how individuals in these relationship types manage contributions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that members of exchange relationships track individual inputs into joint tasks.
• To test the hypothesis that members of communal relationships do not track individual inputs into joint tasks.

Main Methods:

• Three studies were conducted where participants worked on a task with a partner.
• Participants were assigned to either a communal or an exchange relationship condition.
• The use of same-colored or different-colored pens was used as a measure to infer whether participants tracked individual inputs.

Main Results:

• In all three studies, a significantly greater proportion of participants in exchange relationships chose different colored pens, indicating input tracking.
• A significantly smaller proportion of participants in communal relationships chose different colored pens compared to exchange relationships.
• In communal conditions, the proportion of participants choosing different colored pens was not greater than 50%.

Conclusions:

• Individuals in exchange relationships actively monitor their contributions to joint tasks.
• Individuals in communal relationships tend to avoid tracking individual contributions, prioritizing the relationship over individual accounting.
• The findings support the distinction between communal and exchange relationships regarding input tracking behaviors.