SELF-DISCLOSURE: FACTORS AFFECTING ATTRACTION

SELF-DISCLOSURE → when a personal reveals personal information about themselves

• People tend to be attracted to those who self-disclose more

• People also self-disclosure to those they are attracted to

~SOCIAL PENETRATION THEORY~

Altman & Taylor

Self-disclosure has two elements:

• Breadth

• Depth

- As both increase, the romantic partners become more committed to each other

- They ‘penetrate’ more deeply into each other’s lives and gain a greater understanding of each other

~BREADTH & DEPTH~

At the start of a relationship, we reveal lots of information about ourselves:

• Superficial

• Low-risk

• Information that we reveal to anyone

If we reveal too much information too soon, this might threaten the relationship

As a relationship develops, self-disclosure becomes broader + deeper

• High-risk information

• Painful memories & experiences

• Powerful feelings & secrets

~ONION ANALOGY~

• Outside superficial layer (e.g. music taste)

• Middle layer (e.g. political views)

• Inner layers (e.g. fears, goals, secrets)

• Core personality (e.g. most basic self)

~RECIPROCITY~

Reis & Shaver

• Pointed out that for a relationship to develop, there needs to be a reciprocal element to self-disclosure

• This self-disclosure should be balanced between both partners

EVALUATION

Research Support:

→ SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

• One strength is that several predictions about self-disclosure derived from Social Penetration Theory have been supported by research.

• For example, psychologists studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong correlations between several measures of self-disclosure and relationship satisfaction.

• Those who used self-disclosure and believed that their partners did likewise were more satisfied and committed to their relationship.

• These supportive research findings increase our confidence in the validity of the theory that reciprocated self-disclosure leads to more satisfying relationships.

• However, much self-disclosure research is correlational.

• It is usually assumed that greater self-disclosure creates more satisfaction but a correlation does not tell us if this is a valid conclusion to draw.

• Alternative explanations are just as likely, such as ‘amount of time spent together’ impacting couple satisfaction.

• Therefore self-disclosures may not cause satisfaction directly, reducing the validity of Social Penetration Theory.

→ REAL-WORLD APPLICATION

• Another strength is that research into self-disclosure can help people who want to improve communication in their relationships.

• Romantic partners sometimes use self-disclosure deliberately to increase intimacy and strengthen their bond. Psychologists found that 57% of homosexual men and women said said that self-disclosure was the main way they deepenend their relationships.

• If less-skilled partners learn to use self-disclosure then this could bring several benefits to their relationship in terms of deepening satisfaction.

• This shows that psychological insights can be valuable in helping people who are having problems in their relationships.

Conflicting Evidence:

→ CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

• One limitation is that it is not true for all cultures that increasing depth and breadth of self-disclosures lead to a more satisfying and intimate romantic relationship.

• Psychologists reviewed research into sexual self-disclosure. They concluded that men and women in the US (an individualistic culture) self-disclose more feelings than men and women in China (a collectivist culture).

• Despite lower levels of disclosure in China, levels of satisfaction were no different from those in the US.

• Therefore self-disclosure theory is a limited explanation of romantic relationships because it is based on findings from Western cultures, which are not generalisable to other cultures.