What Do You Have to Offer Me?" A Relationship Building Activity for Demonstrating Social Exchange Theory
In this article, we describe an interactive classroom activity designed to help students encounter social exchange theory in action. During the "What Do You Have to Offer Me?" exercise, each student selected seven cards, each containing a characteristic related to personality, physical characteristics, family history, finances, ideology, and occupation. Students were then asked to mill around the room and find someone with whom they would be interested in developing a relationship, based on the assigned characteristics. Once all students found a partner and were seated, students reflected on the process of the activity, as well as its application to social exchange theory. In addition to providing details of the activity, we conclude with student reflections and evaluative data on the exercise.