John Thibaut was a social psychologist, one of the last graduate students of Kurt Lewin

Kurt Lewin

Kurt Zadek Lewin was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology....

. He spent a number of years as a professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and was the first editor of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

The research group which he headed at UNC was regularly attended by Harry Upshaw, Jack Brehm, Kurt Back, and Edward E. Jones

Edward E. Jones

Edward Ellsworth Jones , also known as "Ned" Jones, was an influential social psychologist who worked at Duke University for most of his career. He moved to Princeton University's Department of Psychology in 1977.-Biography:He earned his Ph.D...

. He is best known for "A Social Psychology of Groups", co-authored by his long time collaborator Harold Kelley

Harold Kelley

Harold Kelley was an American social psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles...

.

The examination of social exchange led John Thibaut and Harold Kelley

Harold Kelley

Harold Kelley was an American social psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles...

 to develop social exchange theory

Social exchange theory

Social exchange theory is a social psychological and sociological perspective that explains social change and stability as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties. Social exchange theory posits that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and...

, a process which was facilitated by Thibaut spending a year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences where he had significant interaction with Kenneth Arrow.

The early variations of Social Exchange Theory stem from Alvin Ward Gouldner

Alvin Ward Gouldner

Alvin Ward Gouldner was born on July 29th, 1920, in New York and died on December 15th, 1980. He was professor of sociology at Washington University in St...

's (1960) norm of reciprocity, which simply argues that people ought to return benefits given to them in a relationship. Peter M. Blau built on the work done by George C. Homans

George C. Homans

George Casper Homans was an American sociologist, founder of behavioral sociology and the exchange theory.Homans is best known for his research in social behavior and his works including The Human Group, Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms, his exchange theory and the many different propositions...

 in Exchange and Power in Social Life (1964). Later modifications to this theory focus attention on relational development and maintenance rules (see Murstein et al.).

Thibaut's later research was in the area of procedural justice, where he co-authored a book with legal expert Laurens Walker.