[Excerpt] Relational cohesion theory explains how and when people who are exchanging things of value develop stable, cohesive relations. It starts from the idea that people tend to interact or do things with others because they get something they value or want from those others. They give something to the other and receive something in return. This is termed a social exchange. The valued  goods” that are exchanged may be tangible or intangible. Employees exchange their labor for pay, clients exchange money for services, neighbors exchange assistance with each other\u27s yards, coworkers exchange advice and information, roommates exchange respect for each other\u27s belongings, and friends exchange emotional support for each other

Lawler, Edward J

English

DigitalCommons@ILR

Cornell University ILR School 
DigitalCommons@ILR 
Articles and Chapters ILR Collection 
2010 
Relational Cohesion Theory 
Edward J. Lawler 
Cornell University, ejl3@cornell.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles 
 Part of the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons, Industrial Organization Commons, 
Labor Relations Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Organizational 
Communication Commons, Organization Development Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction 
Commons, and the Work, Economy and Organizations Commons 
Thank you for downloading an article from DigitalCommons@ILR. 
Support this valuable resource today! 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the ILR Collection at DigitalCommons@ILR. It has been 
accepted for inclusion in Articles and Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@ILR. For more 
information, please contact catherwood-dig@cornell.edu. 
If you have a disability and are having trouble accessing information on this website or need materials in an 
alternate format, contact web-accessibility@cornell.edu for assistance. 
Relational Cohesion Theory 
Abstract 
[Excerpt] Relational cohesion theory explains how and when people who are exchanging things of value 
develop stable, cohesive relations. It starts from the idea that people tend to interact or do things with 
others because they get something they value or want from those others. They give something to the 
other and receive something in return. This is termed a social exchange. The valued "goods” that are 
exchanged may be tangible or intangible. Employees exchange their labor for pay, clients exchange 
money for services, neighbors exchange assistance with each other's yards, coworkers exchange advice 
and information, roommates exchange respect for each other's belongings, and friends exchange 
emotional support for each other. 
Keywords 
relational cohesion theory, social interaction, social exchange 
Disciplines 
Industrial and Organizational Psychology | Industrial Organization | Labor Relations | Organizational 
Behavior and Theory | Organizational Communication | Organization Development | Social Psychology and 
Interaction | Work, Economy and Organizations 
Comments 
Required Publisher Statement 
© SAGE. Final version published as: Lawler, E. J. (2010). Relational cohesion theory [Electronic version]. In 
J. M. Levine & M. A. Hogg (Eds.), Encyclopedia of group processes & intergroup relations (pp. 690-691). 
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781412972017.n211 
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. 
Suggested Citation 
Lawler, E. J. (2010). Relational cohesion theory [Electronic version]. Retrieved [insert date], from Cornell 
University, ILR School site: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles/1255 
This article is available at DigitalCommons@ILR: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles/1257 
Relational Cohesion Theory        1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Relational Cohesion Theory 
 
 
 
Edward J. Lawler 
Cornell University 
 
 
 
 
 
Encyclopedia of Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, edited by John M. Levine & Michael 
A. Hogg, 690-691. 
  
Relational Cohesion Theory        2 
 
Relational cohesion theory explains how and when people who are exchanging things of 
value develop stable, cohesive relations. It starts from the idea that people tend to interact or do 
things with others because they get something they value or want from those others. They give 
something to the other and receive something in return. This is termed a social exchange. The 
valued "goods” that are exchanged may be tangible or intangible. Employees exchange their 
labor for pay, clients exchange money for services, neighbors exchange assistance with each 
other's yards, coworkers exchange advice and information, roommates exchange respect for each 
other's belongings, and friends exchange emotional support for each other. 
 
Overview 
 
Social exchanges are instrumental in the sense that people engage in exchange to get 
something for themselves, and they may not care what the other gets. Unless people have some 
sort of commitment to each other, you would expect them to always be searching or "on the 
lookout” for better exchange partners and to readily leave one relationship for another. Social 
ties or relations would be like economic markets in this sense, governed and shaped purely by 
self-interest. Relational cohesion theory asks, Under what conditions will people in social 
exchange develop a commitment to their relationship? 
Commitment is defined as the tendency for people to keep exchanging with the same 
person or to stay in a relationship despite good or better alternatives. If people have a 
commitment, they will not be as inclined to search for better alternatives or to choose an 
alternative over their current relationship if one becomes available. Relational cohesion theory, 
as the name implies, argues that social cohesion produces a strong form of commitment that 
Relational Cohesion Theory        3 
 
involves not just staying in the relationship but also giving gifts without strings attached 
(unilaterally) and partaking in new joint activities or ventures that require or imply trust in the 
other's goodwill. The theory contends that such commitments form because social exchanges 
produce emotions (or feelings), and under certain conditions, people associate their individual 
feelings with their relationship or shared group affiliation. When this occurs, people come to 
value not only the things they personally get from the exchange but also the relationship or group 
affiliation in itself. 
According to the theory, social cohesion has a structural and a perceptual dimension. 
Structural cohesion is based on the degree of interdependence, that is, how dependent the people 
are on each other. Structural cohesion is strong if both people in an exchange are highly 
dependent on each other for valued rewards (high mutual dependence, or interdependence) and if 
they are equally rather than unequally dependent on each other. Structural cohesion, however, is 
an unrealized potential. It makes salient to people that they are involved in a joint task or activity 
with another and that they cannot accomplish the task alone or without the other. 
The fact that they "need” each other for this purpose is important, but it does not 
necessarily lead to actualized or realized cohesion. Actual or realized cohesion has to be 
produced and perceived by the people themselves in their interactions with each other. Once 
cohesion is realized, people tend to become committed and thus are inclined to stay in their 
relationship, give each other gifts, and trust each other enough to partake in new cooperative 
ventures that expand or grow their relationship. 
Relational cohesion theory indicates that structural cohesion is realized through the 
emotions and feelings that emerge from repeated social exchanges among the same persons. An 
emotion is an evaluation state of the human organism that has cognitive, physiological, and 
Relational Cohesion Theory        4 
 
neurological elements. When you feel an emotion, you "feel it all over,” so emotions refer to 
generalized states of the human organism. In relational cohesion theory, the emotions of concern 
are mild states that people often experience in their daily lives, such as feeling good, up, 
satisfied, bad, down, or dissatisfied. The theory identifies conditions under which such everyday 
feelings are attributed to relations or groups within which social exchanges occur. This is what 
causes relational or group commitments to become emotionally based. There are four main 
points in the theory. 
First, social structures bring people together by making them dependent on each other 
and giving them incentives to interact and exchange. Who exchanges with whom and how often 
are determined by these interdependencies and associated incentives. People choose to exchange 
with those from whom they receive the greatest reward or payoff, and at this point, they are 
oriented only to their own rewards. However, relationships form and evolve when the exchange 
occurs frequently and repeatedly among the same people. The reasons for this are the next 
points. 
Second, successfully arriving at exchanges with another is an accomplishment that gives 
people an "emotional buzz.” They feel good about accomplishing the exchange task, whereas 
unsuccessful efforts to exchange make them feel bad. Repeated exchanges or failures at 
exchange create patterns of feeling good or bad with another person. Moreover, because social 
exchange is inherently a joint task, people are likely to believe that their relationship is one 
reason they are able to repeatedly solve the task (or fail at it). People infer that their emotions, 
felt individually, are jointly produced by what they share, such as their relationship or group 
affiliation. 
Relational Cohesion Theory        5 
 
Third, the theory argues further that positive feelings make more salient the relationship 
people have to each other and lead them to perceive their relationship as a unifying force in the 
situation. Thus, repeated exchange produces positive feelings, and these feelings, in turn, foster 
perceptions of a cohesive relationship, that is, one coming together rather than coming apart. 
People orient their behavior more to the other and to this relationship than before because the 
relationship is now a distinct object or force in the situation. They are prepared to do more things 
on behalf of their relationship with the other, even if it involves costs or sacrifice on their part. 
Thus, the instrumental, self-interest foundation of their original exchanges evolves into an 
expressive, symbolic relation with intrinsic value. People continue exchanging with the same 
others in part to affirm and maintain a valued social relationship. 
Fourth, combining the above three points, there is a three-part sequence or process 
through which a social structure (dependencies) produces commitment: exchange to emotion to 
cohesion. The effects of social structures are indirect and occur only when this process is 
produced, that is, when exchange produces positive emotions and these emotions generate 
perceived cohesion. Commitments to relations will not occur if structures do not generate 
repeated patterns of exchange among the same people, if those exchanges do not give people an 
"emotional buzz,” or if the resulting emotions do not lead the people to perceive a cohesive 
relationship with each other. 
 
Related Research 
 
Many laboratory experiments have been conducted to test the predictions of relational 
cohesion theory. These experiments bring two or more people together to negotiate agreements 
Relational Cohesion Theory        6 
 
across a series of episodes of negotiations and vary people's mutual dependence on each other 
(high vs. low) and also their relative dependence (equal vs. unequal). The evidence strongly 
supports the idea that equal dependence and more mutual dependence promote commitment 
behaviors, but only indirectly, through the exchange-to-emotion-to- cohesion process. 
Second, the exchange-to-emotion-to-cohesion process has been supported under a variety 
of different conditions, such as in groups of three working on a joint venture, in networks with 
four people, and with different types or forms of social exchange. Thus, the idea that frequent 
exchange produces more positive feelings and more positive feelings produce more perceived 
cohesion is well founded at this point. 
Finally, the theory suggests, more generally, that the effects of group processes on group 
commitments are strongest when the tasks generate a strong sense of shared responsibility 
among the people involved in social exchange. Highly joint tasks create a sense of shared 
responsibility among people doing the task together, and social exchange is one example of a 
joint task. If people give credit to themselves and not the others for success at a joint task (low 
sense of shared responsibility), then repeated success at the task should have no effects on 
cohesion and commitment. 
On the other hand, if people give all those involved credit for success (high sense of 
shared responsibility), the effects of emotions felt on cohesion and commitment should be 
strong. In this way, the theory of relational cohesion helps explain how and when group 
processes are likely to produce group cohesion and affective group commitments. Group 
cohesion and commitment should be especially strong when the structure of the task and the 
behaviors of people in accomplishing it generate a strong sense of shared responsibility for the 
results. 


Relational Cohesion Theory

[Excerpt] Relational cohesion theory explains how and when people who are exchanging things of value develop stable, cohesive relations. It starts from the idea that people tend to interact or do things with others because they get something they value or want from those others. They give something to the other and receive something in return. This is termed a social exchange. The valued "goods” that are exchanged may be tangible or intangible. Employees exchange their labor for pay, clients exchange money for services, neighbors exchange assistance with each other's yards, coworkers exchange advice and information, roommates exchange respect for each other's belongings, and friends exchange emotional support for each other.Lawler86_Relational_Cohesion_Theory.pdf: 117 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Lawler, Edward J.

eCommons (Cornell Univ.)

https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2277&amp;context=articles

Relational Cohesion Theory

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

DigitalCommons@ILR

eCommons (Cornell Univ.)