“Pay Me Back”: Testing the Implications of Long-Term Changes and Partner Similarity in Exchange Orientation Within Intimate Relationships

Past research on intimate relationships suggests that exchange orientation-the tendency to expect direct reciprocation when providing a benefit-predicts lower relationship well-being. However, limited research has examined the long-term associations of this link or the effects of partner similarity in exchange orientation. The present research addressed this gap by employing a set of rigorous analyses on longitudinal data spanning 13 years from a national sample of romantic couples in Germany (<i>N</i> = 7,293 couples). Latent curve models with structured residuals (LCM-SR) revealed that romantic partners, on average, experienced a general decline in exchange orientation over the course of their relationship. Partners who showed slower declines in exchange orientation experienced steeper declines in relationship satisfaction. Within-person increases in exchange orientation predicted future decreases in relationship satisfaction. Dyadic response surface analyses (DRSA) indicated no evidence of similarity effects. Overall, these findings corroborate the adverse effects of exchange orientation on intimate relationships.