INVENTORY YOUR SOCIAL CONTRACTS

We all have social contracts. Some of the terms of the contracts are discussed in a straightforward and deliberate manner, while other terms are assumed that agreement has been made with the other parties. Social contracts are the agreements that we make or believe that we make with others regarding how they will treat us and how we will treat them. Social contracts can be made in romantic relationships, friendships, family, work and in business deals. The more types of relationships that you share with the same party/ person, the more terms of expectation, thus greater likelihood of a breach of contract occurring and risking the overall agreement/ or contract.
What am I talking about? For example, In a work scenario, you may have a formal contract with your manager for you to work 40 weeks and for your manager to give you a positive performance evaluation if you perform A, B, and C work duties. What is not written is that you expect your manager to look out for your best interest if a promotional job becomes open outside of your area unbeknownst to you. If you believe that you have performed exceedingly well and your manager does not go above and beyond to help your career grow, you might be offended even though that is not written in the formal contract. It might be your understanding that it was in the social contract. Another example is if a woman is dating a man for two years. They both have discussed marriage very seriously. The woman takes a job in distant city without consulting the man first. He may believe that they were in a social contract to discuss such important details whereas she may not because they did not formally agree to do so. In a friendship, you might perceive someone to be a “friend” and look out for your best interest in a certain manner because you have known someone for several years. Whereas, the other person may not have the same social contract with you to honor the same levels of friendship that you would do so and expect in return. The list goes on, but the bottom line is that we all have relationships that could stand to have expectations clarified. Please do take a peek at the video and consider what social contracts that you currently have in your life that may or may not be clarified.