The commodification of professional-client interactions: Understanding the resources clients need and value from professionals in light of individual differences and situational constraints

The foundation of social exchange theory is built on the premise that an interaction involves an exchange of social and economic resources between two or more parties. In professional-client relationships, the emphasis on economic resources has inherently commodified these interactions into explicit exchanges of time, costs, and deliverables. As a result, the social resources in these relationships often operate at an implicit level, creating an environment for interpersonal conflict when the resources professionals offer do not coincide with clients' needs.; This dissertation seeks to extend our understanding of professional-client interactions by examining how individual differences and situational constraints impact clients' valuation of the task and socioemotional resources offered by professionals. The results of an undergraduate study asking subjects to recall prior interactions with professionals provided limited support for situational constraints. However, a subsequent study of professionals responding to hypothetical scenarios found the valuation of resources to change when situational constraints were present. Regardless of the context, both task and socioemotional resources were valued, though task resources were generally valued more. When relational constraints were salient, socioemotional resources were valued more in long-term than short-term relationships. And in the presence of time pressure or budgetary constraints, task resources were valued more than socioemotional resources. In both studies, individual differences were not supported.; A confirmatory factor analysis of the task and socioemotional resources in the second experiment found a different factor structure than was initially hypothesized. An examination of these factors suggests they are indicative of the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations satisfied by the exchange of resources between clients and professionals. Tests of the hypotheses using the new factor structure resulted in findings similar to those previously reported.; An explanation of the unanticipated findings is presented along with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications and opportunities for future research.