Social Exchange Theory

Throughout lecture this semester, numerous theories stuck out to me for different reasons. I found each theory had a certain aspect that made me ponder how I could associate and apply it my personal life, as well as my future professional life. Being able to hear about personal stories relevant to my future career helped me further understand and process the whole theory in a better way. Within this paper I will discuss which theory helped me learn about myself, which one I can apply to my future career, and what can be changed to make this class even better for upcoming semesters.
In regards to which theory best helped me learn more about myself, I think the Social Exchange Theory was that theory. There were assumptions within this theory that stood out to me, and made me look at my actions and behaviors

in a different light. For instance, the assumption that people are motivated by self-interest was something I had really not thought of before. The more I thought about it though; I started to realize how accurate this really was, even when looking at myself. In regards to this assumption, I am constantly listing out pros and cons when I am trying to decide the right move, or trying to figure out which option to choose. When doing this, I always take into consideration which option will provide me with the best outcome. I feel like this is pretty much the same for all individuals. Most individuals would not choose an option where the cons outweigh the positives.
Also, I feel like the term reciprocity fits in well with my outlook on life. Although I do believe you should help others to the most of your capabilities, if you are going to constantly be there for someone and support them then I feel like they need to do the same for you. It is hard when you are constantly there for someone when they are having a rough time, but when you are the one that needs the help they are nowhere to be found. I have learned this from personal experiences, when this happens it sort of makes you want to take a step back and revaluate.
Moving on, I think the Conflict Theory will be help me the most in regards to my future career. I am having a hard time coming to a concrete decision on what my future career actually looks like, but I think whether it be in the field of social work or counseling, this theory will be beneficial. I think understanding that conflict is a normal and even beneficial thing for families to go through, will be a must for succeeding in my future career. Having a complete knowledge regarding the assumptions this theory are essential in providing my future clients with the best help I can offer. The assumption that conflicts can be positive because we learn from it, will be important for me to understand, as well as my clients to understand as a way to successfully help my future clients. Also, the assumption that societies operate under a perpetual scarcity of resources will be important to understand, so I can see where my client happens to fall in regards to the amount of resources they hold.
Another assumption that will be helpful to keep in mind is that group dynamics are different in families than other groups.

Understanding that families function and use resources differently will be essential in remaining successful within my future career. I will have to remember that when working with families as a whole compared to one client individually will acquire me to use different skills and resources in order to better help the clients. Having a full knowledge on the definition of conflict is important, due to the fact that many of my clients will most likely be coming to me due to a conflict that is affecting their life. Along with this, I will need to know different examples of conflict management to suggest for my clients as a way to help them. I am going to have to understand the different types of managements and find the ones that will be best suited for my client or clients. Similar to this, the term conflict resolution will be important to keep in mind when helping my clients. This will be hoped end result in regards to helping the individual. By reaching conflict resolution, my client will no longer be struggling from the conflict at

hand.
In all, I believe that this class has provided me with essential skills and knowledge that will further help me succeed in my future career. All of these different theories will also be beneficial within my personal life. Being able to further apply these theories into my personal life will help me come to understand why I react and how I behave to certain interactions. I enjoyed many aspects of this class, whether it is the personal examples Dr. Daniels shared with us that would help me remember the content of the lecture or the happy notes to start off the early morning class. When trying to think of some ways to make this class better, I sort of had a hard time coming up with ideas. One thing that did end up coming to mind was the grade book in D2l. Throughout the semester I was a little stressed because I was not completely sure what my grade really was. I understand things come up, so it was not anything that really ruined my experience within the class! Thank you for the great semester Dr. Daniels.