factors affecting attraction - self disclosure

what is the social penetration theory

• focused in how relationships develop

process of social penetration theory

• gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone - it involves the reciprocal exchange of information between partners 

• as more and more is disclosed the partners ‘penetrate’ more deeply into each other’s lives and gain a greater understanding of each other

who proposed the social penetration theory

Altman and Taylor 1973

what is the metaphor of an onion?

• layers of an union

• breath and depth theory 

• what we reveal is on the surface (breadth) and as we develop in our relationship this becomes deeper as we reveal our ‘true selves’ e.g. strongly-held beliefs (depth)

• like peeling back an onion.

what did Reis and Shaver say

• for a relationship to develop there meeds to be a reciprocal element to disclosure

• when you disclose something, you hope your partner will respond in a way which is rewarding and understanding and will also share their own disclosure with you

• this leads to a balance of self disclosure between both partners, which leads to increased feelings of intimacy and a more successful romantic relationship

what is self disclosure

sharing personal information about ourselves

what is breadth in relation to self-disclosure

• amount of topics

• which topics are off limit

what is depth in relation to self-disclosure

• how deep you will go into a given topic

• how personal you get on a given subject 

what are the evaluation points

1. supporting research

2. real-life applications

3. cultural differences 

4. satisfactory theory?

evaluation supporting research

P: many of the predictions of self-disclosure derived from social penetration theory have been supported by research

E: Sprecher and Hendrick studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure for both partners. Men and women who used self-disclosure and believed their partners also did were more satisfied and committed to their romantic relationship 

E: Furthermore, Laurenceau et al found self disclosure  and the perception of self disclosure in a partner were linked to higher levels of intimacy in long-term married couples

L: Supporting research increases our confidence in the validity of the theory that self-disclosure leads to more satisfying relationships

evaluation - real life applications

P: there are a number of practical applications of self-disclosure research for people who want to improve their communication int heir relationships

E: Hass and Stafford found 57% of homosexual men and women said that open and honest self disclosure was the main way they maintained and depended their relationship 

E: If less skilled partners, e.g. ones who tend to limit communication, can learn to use self-disclosure then this could bring several benefits to the relationship in terms of deepening satisfaction and commitment

L: such real-life application demonstrates the value of psychological insights

evaluation - cultural differences

P: the assumption that increasing depth and breath of self-disclosure will lead to a more satisfying and intimate relationship is not true for all cultures

E: Tang et al reviewed research into sexual self-disclosure. They concluded that men and women in US (individualistic culture) self disclose significantly more sexual thoughts than those in China (collectivist culture)

E: they concluded that despite lower levels of disclosure in China, satisfaction levels were no different than those in US

L: self disclosure theory is therefore a limited explanation of romantic relationships based on the findings of Western cultures which are not necessarily generalisable to other cultures

evaluation - satisfactory theory?

P: social penetration theory claims that romantic relationships become more intimate as self-disclosure deepen and broadens

E: using the onion metaphor relationship breakdown is accompanied by a reduction in self-disclosures, as partners wrap themselves up once again in layers of concealment

E: however theories of relationships breakdown often recognise how couples discuss and negotiate the state of their deteriorating relationship in an attempt to spare it or return to an earlier level of satisfaction

L: discussions that lead to deep self-disclosures of intimate thoughts and feelings may not always be enough to rescue a relationship, in fact, they may even contribute to its breakdown.