Factors affecting attraction: self disclosure

• self disclosure 


  when an individual reveals information about themselves to another person

  We tend to reveal more information to people that we like, and like people who reveal information about themselves more

  The aim of self-disclosure is to increase intimacy and understanding but it must be reciprocal
• Social penetration theory


  Altman and Taylor suggest that as the relationship between individuals develops, the breadth and depth of interpersonal communication increases from more shallow levels to become more intimate

  They used an 'onion analogy': as relationship progresses, more layers being revealed but this is only likely to occur if exchange is reciprocal
• reciprocity


  relationships will only develop if both individuals are active in both disclosing information and responding in an appropriate way.
• Attributions


  individuals consider the motivations behind self disclosure, someone who is seen to self disclose to anyone is seen as less attractive than someone who discloses to us because they see us as special
• appropriateness 


  revealing information is generally seen as improving relationships

  however, breaking social norms and revealing information too early (TMI) can have detrimental affects/lower attraction

  The key to maintaining a developing and intimate relationship isa balance between depth and breadth, through the reciprocal self disclosure from both parties
• Sprecher and Hendrick (2004)

  • longitudinal observational study watching couples self disclosure on dates
  • Men + women found to have similar levels of self disclosure + positive correlation between amount of self disclosure and satisfaction, love, commitment
  • suggests SD is reciprocal, high levels of Sd are linked to level of attractiveness
  • however, research is correlational so may not be causal link - we could just self disclose to who we are attracted to, perhaps a 3rd factor
• Tang (2013)


  his findings suggested that people in the collectivist society of china have higher relationship satisfaction with lower levels of self disclosure

  this suggests that self disclosure is culturally biased, only a reflection of individualistic western ideas
• Laurenceau et al (2005)


  found that on the basis of daily diary entries, high levels of intimacy and trust were associated with high levels of self disclosure in married couples

  This suggests that the depth and breadth of self-disclosure is strongly predictive of the intimacy and quality of romantic relationships, which supports the validity of the social penetration theory as an indicator of relationship quality