Science Technology and Society: Activity 3

1. Can you describe in your own words, what Social Darwinism is? Is this related to Charles
Darwins’ theory of evolution through natural selection? Explain.

Social Darwinism gives the idea of adapting to the environment in order to survive. It is
related to Charles Darwins’ theory of evolution because it also revolves around survival of the
fittest, but in the context of the society. In natural selection, species must be able to adapt to the
environment to reproduce and survive and adaptation passes through natural selection. Darwin
concluded that since there are lots of variations among species, they compete for resources to
survive. In the modern society, people compete to gain benefits. An example would be social
inequality, in which there will always be people competing for power and status that leads to
inequality.

2. What is social exchange theory, and how will you contextualize this concept to the Filipino
culture? Cite examples.

Social exchange theory tells us that people create and maintain relationships based on the
benefits and risks it gives. The more benefits and the fewer risk the better. Since people have
expectations, people evaluate the benefits and risks to their expectations, which is also known as
comparison level. Another concept in social exchange theory is the comparison level of
alternative which tells us that people weigh the benefits and risks of potential relationships, and
if the potential relationship gives better benefits than the current, there is a big chance that people
choose the alternative.

In the context of Filipino culture, we can apply it in romantic relationships. Usually, in

the Philippines, when people are in a relationship, it does not only revolve around the 2 parties,
but the family also has an influence on the relationship. The parents weigh the benefits their
child would get such as being genuinely happy and being at ease, not worrying about money.
Those are their expectations and comparison level. In comparing alternatives, parents would look
at other potential people and at times encourage their child to break off the current relationship.
Although this practice is toxic, since Filipinos are collectivists, they consider relationships sacred
because it involves families.