Social exchange and Nigerian social networking

GEORGE HORMANS THEORY TO BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATIONS - Application of the theory to explain the Nigerian Society

The social exchange theory is applicable to how young Nigerians utilized social networking sites.  (Online dating and sexting).  The different factors involved when an individual decides to establish an online relationship. The rewards vary from news, to where to obtain drugs, sexual partners and others areas of interest. These young persons feel more comfortable utilizing the virtual networks because the reward is more spontaneous compared to the physical hotspots.

The social exchange is relevant and explain issues relating to unemployment and yawning of young Nigerians seeking for greener pastures abroad. The Nigerian youths are beginning to calculate the outcome of their other peers who travelled abroad within a given period of time and subtracting the costs (the money spent to travel abroad, the cold weather and racial slurs) from the benefits.It explains why there are more marriages between Nigerian men and white women than between white men and Nigerian women. Moreover, the alarming rate of unemployment in the country and how multi-national firms gives preference to graduates with foreign certificates is also playing  a large role in young Nigerians’ desire to travel abroad, because they believe that after schooling abroad, they stands a better chance of being employed in his desired institution in Nigeria.

It should be noted that this expectation plays a large role in an individual’s analysis of the value of the outcome.  Most Nigerian graduates become disappointed after so many years of industrial actions and hardship at the ivory towers; only to be roaming the street in search of well-paid jobs. This affects the individual’s social relationships because an individual anticipating a particularly high outcome will be disappointed and ultimately unsatisfied with the relationship if a smaller outcome is reached. However, an individual with a lower expectation for the outcome will not encounter this difficulty. Therefore, satisfaction can be calculated by subtracting a “comparison level” from the outcome. If the comparison level is higher than the outcome, the value for satisfaction will be negative.

Conclusions

Self-interest and interdependence are central properties of social exchange. In social exchange, self-interest is not a negative thing; rather, when self-interest is recognized, it will act as the guiding force of interpersonal relationships for the advancement of both parties' self-interest.Individuals choose those alternatives from which they expect the most profit.

Individuals are more likely to engage in social exchange basically when:

        I.            Cost being equal, they choose alternatives from which they anticipate the greatest rewards.

      II.            Rewards being equal, they choose alternatives from which they anticipate the fewest costs.

    III.            Immediate outcomes being equal, they choose those alternatives that promise better long- term outcomes.