self disclosure

self disclosure definition

• deliberately revealing secret information about oneself that would not normally be known by others

• increases attractiveness and trust

social penetration theory

Altman and Taylor:

• self disclosure allows one person to penetrate deeper into life of partner.

• increases intimacy and trust.

Breadth

• disclose a lot but what we reveal is superficial.

• low risk information

depth

• deeper, more and more layers revealed of our true selves.

• painful memories/experiences.

Reciprocity of self disclosure

Reiss and Shaver;

needs to be reciprocal element to disclosure in order for a relationship to develop.

Strength - research to support

Laurenceau et al:

• asked married couples to keep a daily diary.

• Found couples that disclosed more reported high levels of intimacy.

• Shows that self disclosure is strongly linked to intimacy in Long term relationships

Limitation - cause and effect

• correlational findings do not show whether self disclosure causes relationships to become stronger.

• satisfaction may be due to sharing personal thoughts and feelings rather than disclosure.

• limits conclusion that self disclosure directly leads to increased intimacy.

limitation - cultural limitations

• less applicable in cultures where romantic relationships arent based off free partner choice.

• arranged marriages are common in collectivist cultures. Disclosure about personal/sexual feelings would be seen as inappropriate.

• Tang et al: sexual disclosure more common in western cultures than collectivist.

• therefore lacks generalisability