2. factors: self disclosure

what is self disclosure

revealing personal information about yourself

• romantic partners reveal more about their true selves as their relationship develops 

• these self disclosures about ones deepest thoughts and feelings can strengthen a romantic bond when used appropriately 

what is the social penetration theory

concept by altman & taylor regarding how relationships develop

social penetration theory stages

• its the gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone else or giving away your deepest thoughts and feelings 

• romantic relationships - involves the reciprocal exchange of information between intimate partners

• when one partner reveals personal information they signal trust, and to go further the other partner must also reveal sensitive information 

• as disclosure increases, the partners ‘penetrate’ more deeply into each others lives and gain a greater understanding of each other

elements of self disclosure

1. breadth

2. depth

as both of these increase, romantic partners become more committed to each other 

process of breadth and depth

• at the start of the relationship we disclose a lot about ourselves but it tends to be superficial and the breadth of disclosure is narrow as many topics are off limits in the early stages

• as relationship develops, self disclosure becomes deeper and a wide range of topics are encompassed, especially concerning those that matter most 

• eventually intimate and high risk information is revealed eg painful memories and experiences, strongly held beliefs and secrets 

deprenetration

role of reciprocity

reis & shaver pointed out for a relationship to develop, as well as an increase in breadth and depth, there needs to be a reciprocal element to disclosure 

• means there is a balance of self-disclosure between both partners, increasing feelings of intimacy and deepening the relationship 

evaluation

1. real world application

2. research support (& COUNTERPOINT)

3. cultural differences

real world application

• self disclosure research has practical uses for improving relationships 

• hass & stafford found 57% of gay men and women said honest, open self disclosure helped maintain their relationships 

• teaching couples to use self disclosure effectively can improve communication and relationship satisfaction 

• highlights real world value in relationship counselling and therapy 

research support

• strong research evidence supporting self disclosure theory

• sprecher & hendrick found couples who used more self disclosure were more satisfied and committed in their relationship - shows a clear positive correlation between the amount of self disclosure and relationship quality 

• supports idea self disclosure plays a key role in relationship satisfaction and attraction

counterpoint

• correlational evidence cannot establish cause and effect 

• its unclear whether self disclosure causes greater satisfaction, or if more satisfied couples simply disclose more 

• weakens the causal claims of the self disclosure explanation 

cultural differences

• role of self disclosure varies across countries

• tang et al found US couples disclose more sexual thoughts and feelings that chinese couples - despite differences, satisfaction levels were similar suggesting importance of self disclosure is culturally relative

• challenges the universality of the explanation