Social Penetration Theory

• Who proposed the Social Penetration Theory?

  Altman and Taylor
• What does the Social Penetration Theory argue?

  that self-disclosure is a major factor in the development of relationships
• What does the Social Penetration Theory state?

  the gradual process of revealing your inner self to individuals to whom you find attractive displays trust, and for the romantic relationship to develop further the OTHER PARTNER MUST ALSO reveal sensitive info
• as they increasingly disclose more & more to each other, what happens?

  romantic partners 'penetrate' more deeply into each others lives
• What 2 elements does self-disclosure have?

  BREADTH &DEPTH.
• What happens as both breadth and depth increase?

  Romantic partners become more committed to each other
• What metaphor do Altman and Taylor use?

  Metaphor of an ONION used to illustrate the process ; we initially reveal 'superficial' shallow outer layers and the breadth of topics we are willing to discuss are NARROW

  • if attraction strengthens, our self-disclosure continues as the romantic relationship develops
• what happens if the attraction strengthens?

  our self-disclosure continues as the romantic relationship develops
• For a relationship to develop, what must THE BREADTH AND DEPTH BE?


  RECIPROCAL

  • Once you have decided to reveal something about yourself to the object of your attraction, you expect the SAME LEVEL BACK if the romantic relationship is to develo[p