self-disclosure

• INTRO

  • self-disclosure is the act of revealing information about ourselves to a person - the nature and information involved in self disclosure depends on many factors
  • length of a relationship
  • person who is receiving the information
  • the type of person revealing the information.g confident or shy
• SOCIAL PENETRATION THEORY - ALTMAN AND TAYLOR

  • proposes at the beginning of the relationship, we reveal superficial information that is more shallow e.g favourite film, and as the relationship becomes deeper, more private information is self-disclosed at the core e.g inner desires
  • has an onion peel like structure whereby the more layers peeled, the deeper the information and hence the closer the relationship will be
  • the researchers suggest that information revealed at the start of relationships has breadth but no depth, and as partners get closer the information is deeper with less breadth
• SELF-DISCLOSURE IN RELATIONSHIPS

  • social penetration theory states for self-disclosure to work, it must be a reciprocal process. they also state self-disclosure is essential to help a relationship thrive
  • can be risky if someone reveals too much information that is potentially dangerous (e.g about breaking the law), and someone fails to self-disclose similar information back therefore giving one person more power and inequality in terms of trust
• A03

  • Social Penetration Theory was developed based on research in a Western, individualist culture, so it may not apply to collectivist cultures. For example, Tang et al found that men and women in the USA tended to disclose more sexual thoughts and feelings than romantic partners in China; however, the level of relationship satisfaction was high in both cultures. This shows that self-disclosure is not a requirement for successful relationships in all cultures, making Social Penetration Theory culturally biased.
• A03

  -methodological issues associated with studies on self-disclosure - for example, correlational studies on self-disclosure tend to draw causal conclusions between levels of satisfaction in relationships and high levels of self-disclosure. however, the issue with this is that a third variable may be present such as age difference between partners that ultimately also affects the satisfaction within relationships. this means incorrect relationships between self-disclosure and satisfaction may be drawn when in reality they don't correlate
• A03

  + supportive study - Hass and Stafford found that out of couples who claimed to have high levels of intimacy, 57% exclaimed this was because of self-disclosure. this therefore supports the importance of self-disclosure in the success of relationships. plus, has practical application for the use of therapies which focus on increasing the depth and breadth of self-disclosure for couples who struggle with intimacy, as well as increasing trust within the relationship. These are the predictions made by social penetration theory, thus further increasing the validity of this theory