How intimacy affects resource conceptualization

Abstract

Previous research regarding Foa and Foa's Resource Theory does not address whether the level of intimacy shared between the actors affects their resource conceptualization. Furthermore, siblings have not been utilized as a separate intimacy group in any Resource Theory study. Consequently, this study is the first to examine both. I used four of Resource Theory's six resource categories in multiple quasi-experiments to determine whether changing the actors' level of intimacy from sibling to stranger affected how the same resource being exchanged was conceptualized in terms of Foa and Foa's Resource Theory. The results were analyzed in four different areas: ( l ) if gender affects resource conceptualization, (2) if increasing intimacy between the actors affects resource conceptualization, (3) if increasing intimacy between the actors causes them not to want to participate in resource reciprocity, and (4) if increased intimacy between the actors causes less variance in their responses. The results only partially supported the second of my four propositions, but it is this proposition that has the most potential for future research implications.