Social Exchange And Greasers In Hinton's The Outsiders

There are numerous occasions in the novel The Outsiders that connect to the theory of Social Exchange, however, the four fights between the Greasers and the Socs adequately describe how each member must evaluate the costs and rewards before deciding whether or not to take part in an altercation. More importantly, these fights raise the question whether or not being a Greaser or Soc is worth the price of potentially being killed. The first altercation is a simple example of Social Exchange, Ponyboy is walking home alone from the movies, the Socs see him and decide to beat him up because it is a 5:1 ratio between them, which leads them to believe that there are no costs involved (Hinton, 2006, p. 4). Ponyboy’s fellow Greasers soon arrive and protect him because they too see minimal costs in fighting for Ponyboy’s life. If anything, they see more benefits because Ponyboy could have been killed and they do not want that to happen. In this particular instance, Ponyboy is in a given …show more content…
Each person is a part of their group in order to feel as though they are not alone. They choose the comparison level of alternatives, which is “how people evaluate a relationship based on what their alternatives to the relationships are” in order to be content with the costs of their relationship (Hinton, 2006, p. 191). They all feel as though being a part of their gang gives their life purpose and provides them with a reason to live. Each person in The Outsiders converse the meaning of their relationship within their gang through productive exchange. Both parties incur benefits and costs simultaneously and both parties have to contribute for either one of them to benefit (West & Turner, 2010, p. 196). The Greasers and the Socs need each other and their fights in order to know they are not alone and that their life has