Resource theory

Resource theories describe the possibilities of individuals and companies based on the endowment with material and immaterial resources. In contrast to (business) economic resource theories, which consider the situation of companies (see resource orientation ), psychological and sociological resource theories deal with the living situation of individuals.

psychology

In contrast to (business) economic resource theories, psychological and sociological resource theories do not deal with organizations but with individuals. There are several psychological theories of resources on aspects of resource use.

Resource (exchange) theory of Foa and Foa

The resource (exchange) theory of Foa and Foa captures the importance of resources for shaping lifestyle and interpersonal relationships. The authors create six resource classes love , services , goods , money, information and social status , which are assigned to one another according to their degree of concreteness and uniqueness. Resources receive their value through subjective and cultural attribution of meaning and, above all, through the value they have for the exchange with other resources in order to improve one's own social relationships and the way of life or to gain additional resources.

Resource Conservation Theory

With his theory of resource conservation, Hobfoll traces the emergence of individual and social stress to changes (in particular real or threatened loss of resources) in the available resources. It can show that resource losses, especially those that serve to maintain the individual, the family or the context of life, lead to severe stress reactions. Loss of resources has a massive impact on the development and deployment of additional resources and ultimately prevents one from coping with upcoming stressful life requirements.

The SAR model

The systemic requirement resource model (SAR model) according to Peter Becker considers the interplay of resources and requirements on different biopsychosocial system levels and examines their effects on health. This brings the mutual dependency of people and the (social) environment in the accessibility, use and handling of resources and the associated resource exchange processes into focus. The idea underlying Becker's model of contrasting resources and loads is already formulated in the transactional stress model by Lazarus and is currently being continued by Franz-Christian Schubert as a transactional resource concept.

sociology

In sociology, a resource theory analysis is also used to describe social inequality. In a study and in his book Social Meaning, Pierre Bourdieu addresses the accumulation of various resources as the mechanism that can secure an advantageous position in society over the long term and make it "inheritable" to future generations. He differentiates between economic, social and cultural resources, which he describes as types of capital (see capital ).

Based on psychological and sociological approaches, Alban Knecht develops an integrative roof theory to describe social inequality and to analyze its origin and maintenance. Psychological resources such as motivation and commitment, internal control beliefs , expectations of self-efficacy as well as a sense of coherence and other resources such as financial, social, health and educational resources interact with one another. The possibility of transforming resources into one another means that people with many resources can often hold their social position for a long time, while people with few resources have to struggle with deprivation in many different areas of life (multidimensional poverty). The social distribution of resources is also influenced by social policy interventions such as tax collection, redistribution and social services.

Knecht and Schubert deepen this perspective in an interdisciplinary way by showing how individual resources (money, health, education, social network) are influenced on the one hand by social policy measures and on the other by advisory / psychotherapeutic and social work interventions (see also resource orientation ).

literature

Uriel G. Foa / Jr. Converse (Eds.) Resource theory: Explorations and applications. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1989
Birgit Fricke (2002): Paradise at a Bargain Price. The Application of Resource Theory to Sam Shepard's Dramas. Frankfurt: Long
Stevan E. Hobfoll / JA Schumm: The Theory of Resource Conservation: Application to Public Health Promotion. In: Petra Buchwald, Christine Schwarzer, Stevan E. Hobfoll, (Eds.) (2004): Coping with stress together. Resource management and multiaxial coping. Pp. 91-120. Göttingen: Hogrefe, 2004
Alban Knecht: Bibliography on the topics of resources, resource theory and resource orientation (PDF; 1.5 MB)
Schubert, Franz-Christian; Knecht, Alban: Resources - Features, Theories and Concepts at a Glance. Open Access Repository, 2015, accessed May 4, 2017 .

swell

^ UG Foa & EB Foa: Resource theory of social exchange . In: JW Thibaut, JT Spence, RC Carson (Eds.): Contemporary Topics in Social Psychology . General Learning Press, 1976, ISBN 978-0-382-25078-1 .
↑ Kjell Törnblom, Ali Kazemi (Ed.): Handbook of Social Resource Theory. Theoretical Extensions, Empirical Insights, and Social Applications . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2012.
↑ SE Hobfoll: Conservation of resources: An new attempt at conceptualizing stress. In: American Psychologist . tape 44 , p. 513-524 .
↑ SE Hobfoll: stress, culture, and community . Plenum Press, New York.
↑ Becker, Peter: Health through satisfaction of needs . Hogrefe, Göttingen.
↑ Schubert, Franz-Christian: Resource orientation in the context of lifestyle - basic theories and conceptual developments . In: Behavioral Therapy and Psychosocial Practice . tape 48 , no. 4 , p. 827-844 .
↑ Bourdieu, Pierre: Economic Capital - Cultural Capital - Social Capital . In: Pierre Bourdieu (ed.): The hidden mechanisms of power . Writings on Politics & Culture, 1st VSA, Hamburg 1992, p. 49-79 .
^ Knecht, Alban: Producing quality of life. Resource theory and power analysis of the welfare state . VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2012.
^ Knecht, Alban: Producing quality of life. Resource theory and power analysis of the welfare state . VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2012.
^ Alban Knecht, Franz-Christian Schubert: Resources in the welfare state and in social work. Activation - Promotion - Allocation . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart.

[1] UG Foa & EB Foa: Resource theory of social exchange . In: JW Thibaut, JT Spence, RC Carson (Eds.): Contemporary Topics in Social Psychology . General Learning Press, 1976, ISBN 978-0-382-25078-1 .

[2] Kjell Törnblom, Ali Kazemi (Ed.): Handbook of Social Resource Theory. Theoretical Extensions, Empirical Insights, and Social Applications . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2012.

[3] SE Hobfoll: Conservation of resources: An new attempt at conceptualizing stress. In: American Psychologist . tape 44 , p. 513-524 .

[4] SE Hobfoll: stress, culture, and community . Plenum Press, New York.

[5] Becker, Peter: Health through satisfaction of needs . Hogrefe, Göttingen.

[6] Schubert, Franz-Christian: Resource orientation in the context of lifestyle - basic theories and conceptual developments . In: Behavioral Therapy and Psychosocial Practice . tape 48 , no. 4 , p. 827-844 .

[7] Bourdieu, Pierre: Economic Capital - Cultural Capital - Social Capital . In: Pierre Bourdieu (ed.): The hidden mechanisms of power . Writings on Politics & Culture, 1st VSA, Hamburg 1992, p. 49-79 .

[8] Knecht, Alban: Producing quality of life. Resource theory and power analysis of the welfare state . VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2012.

[9] Knecht, Alban: Producing quality of life. Resource theory and power analysis of the welfare state . VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2012.

[10] Alban Knecht, Franz-Christian Schubert: Resources in the welfare state and in social work. Activation - Promotion - Allocation . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart.