Self-disclosure

• Self-disclosure:

  • Voluntary sharing of private aspects of the self with another person
  • Including: Thoughts, feelings and experiences
  • Lets themself be known to the other person - Reducing the mystery
  • Important for early relationships - Leads to stronger feelings of intimacy and relationship satisfaction
• Social penetration theory:

  • Self-disclosure - Gradual process revealing inner self to some one else
  • Penetration (Leads to development) - Romantic partners penetrate more deeply into each others lives - Gain greater understanding
  • Breadth (Narrow)
  • Depth (Increases) - Relationship develops more layers are revealed - More likely to reveal painful memories
• Evaluation of self disclosure - Research support:

  • Sprecher: Studied couples - Strong correlations between satisfaction levels and self-disclosure

  Strength: Demonstrates validity of study
• Evaluation of self-disclosure - Cultural differences:

  • Tang: Men and women in the USA - Self disclosed more info about sexual thoughts, feelings and experiences compared to people in China
  • Comfortability to self-disclose - Influences cultural practises and traditions

  Limitation: Self penetration is a limited explanation - Lack generalisability
• Reciprocity of self-disclosure

  Reis + Shaver:

  • After disclosing about yourself - Hopefully partner respond in a rewarding, understanding and empathetic way + Own intimate thoughts and feelings
  • Balance between both partners in a successful romantic relationship - Increases intimacy and deepens relationship
• Evaluation of self-disclosure - Real world applications

  Hass + Stafford:

  Around 60% of gay men and women - Open and honest self disclosure how they maintained and deepened their relationships

  • Help people who want to improve communication in their relationship - Help deepen satisfaction and commitment

  Strength: Shows value of psychological insights