As Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) point out in their review, one of the major problems in research using social exchange theory (SET) is the confusion about what constitutes a resource and what constitutes an outcome at what point in a social exchange relationship:
Usual tests of SET focus on relatively discrete sets of contingent transactions. But, when researchers study a transaction series within work settings, the possibility exists that the transaction series has gone on for some time and/or could continue into the future. As a result of this continuity, the output from a past transaction can be the resource exchanged in a future transaction. Researchers must necessarily snip a small number of exchanges out of their context . . . This is necessary for empirical study, but these scholars certainly do not claim that real-world exchanges are necessarily so discrete. Therefore, relationship development is not a matter of a single stimulus–response. It is more analogous to climbing a ladder. As one ascends, the rung for which one was originally reaching becomes a foothold for one's next step. The goal achieved at one step (successfully grasping the next rung) provides the foundation for an even higher climb. (Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005, pp. 889–90)
真心不懂