Includes bibliographical references.

The basic theory / F. Ivan Nye --
Ambivalence in the family: rewards and costs in group membership / R. Ivan Nye --
Marital quality, marital stability, and social exchange / Robert A. Lewis and Graham B. Spanier --
Role competence and marital satisfaction / F. Ivan Nye and Steven McLaughlin --
Exchange and control in married life / Stephen J. Bahr --
A social exchange view on the dissolution of pair relationships / George Levinger --
A theoretical perspective on running away / F. Ivan Nye --
The value of children in the United States / Lois Wladis Hoffman and Jean Denby Manis --
Family mini theories as special instances of choice and exchange theory / F. Ivan Nye --
Family policy research: emergent models and some theoretical issues / F. Ivan Nye and Gerald W. McDonald --
Propositions and hypotheses from the theory / R. Ivan Nye.

This volume collects some of the work of F Ivan Nye and that of some of his colleagues, that describes a theory -- which Nye calls Choice and Exchange Theory, and its application to various types of family relationships. The theory is an extension and expansion of ′Exchange Theory′ originated in the late 1950s by psychologists such as Thibaut and Kelley and sociologist George Homans. The result, a mixture of both new and previously published articles, is a succinct description of Choice and Exchange Theory that will be of value to researchers and students in family studies and related disciplines.