Self-disclosure

• What is Self-Disclosure?

  • Revealing personal information about yourself
  • More info is revealed as the relationship progresses
  • Self-disclosure can strengthen a romantic bond when used properly
  • It encourages attraction by increasing intimacy between partners
  • HOWEVER - They must be careful with what they disclose to begin with
• Who came up with Social Penetration Theory?

  Altman and Taylor
• What is Social Penetration Theory?

  • Low risk information is revealed early on in a relationship and High risk information comes out as the relationship progresses
  • Romantic partners 'penetrate' more deeply into each others lives - gaining a greater understanding of each other
• What is Low Risk information?

  • Information we would reveal to anyone
  • Breadth of disclosure is small because at this stage many topics are off limits
  • If we reveal too much too soon we could jeopardise the relationship
• What is High Risk information?

  • Breadth of information is much larger as we reveal much more of ourselves
• What is Reciprocity?

  • For a couple to find each other attractive disclosure needs to be reciprocal
  • When one partner reveals, it displays trust
  • To go further the other partner must also reveal sensitive information
• Strength of Self Disclosure - Supporting Evidence:

  • Sprecher and Hendrick
  • Studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure for both partners
  • This increases the validity of the theory

  HOWEVER:

  • Study is correlational which means we can't confirm causation
• Strength of Self Disclosure - Real World Application:

  • Can help couples who want to improve communication and intimacy
  • Haas and Stafford
  • Found that 57% of homosexual men and women said that honest and open self-disclosure was the main way they maintained and deepened their relationships
• Limitation of Self Disclosure - Cultural Differences:

  • Nu Tang et al
  • Found that individualist cultures self disclose more sexual thoughts and feelings than collectivist cultures
  • Despite lower levels of disclosure in collectivist cultures levels of satisfaction were no different than individualistic cultures