SELF DISCLOSURE
Self - disclosure refers to the revealing intimate information to another person
for example revealing your likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, interests and attitudes
most people are careful about disclosing too much too soon
self - disclosure plays an important role in developing a relationship beyond initial attraction
social penetration theory
self disclosure limited at start
revealing personal information is a sign of trust
partner then has to reciprocate and reveal personal information
Altman and Taylor (1973) suggest it is a gradual process of revealing you inner self
penetration leads to devlopment
as romantic partner increasingly disclose more information they 'penetrate' more deeply into each others lives
defenestration describes how dissatisfied partners self - disclose less as they disengage from the relationship
breadth is narrow to begin with
both breadth and depth of self - disclosure are key according to the social penetration theory
breadth is narrow at the start of a relationship because of too much information is revealed this may be off - putting and one partner may decide to quit the realtionship
depth increases
as realtionship develops more layers are gradually revelaed
we are likely to reveal more intimate information including painful memories
Reciprocity of self - disclosure
Need for reciprocity for a relationship to develop
Reis and Shaver (1988) suggest that, in addition to a broadening and deepening of self - disclosure there must be reciprocity
successful relationships will involve disclosure from one partner which is received sensitively by the other partner
In turn this should then lead to further self - disclosure from the other partner
research studies
Sprecher and Hendrick
found strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self - disclosure in heterosexual couples
Men and women who used self - disclosure were more satisfied with and committed to their romantic partner
this supports the validity of the view that reciprocated self - disclosure is a key part of satisfying romantic realtionships
Counterpoint
positive correlations does not mean that self - disclosure causes relationships to be satisfying. It may be tray satisfied partners disclose more, or both cause satisfaction directly which reduces the validity of social penetration theory
this suggests that self - disclosure may not cause satisfaction directly, which reduces the validity of social penetration theory
Real world application
Hass and Stafford (1998) found that 57% of homosexual men and women reported they used open and honest self - disclosure as a realtionship maintenance strategy
Couples who limit communication to 'small talk' can be encouraged to increase self - disclosure in order to deepen their own relationship
this highlights the importance of self - disclosure and suggests the theory can be used to support people having realtionship problems
Culture
Tang et al (2013) concluded that people in the US self - disclose more sexual thoughts and feelings than people in China (individualist vs collectivist)
even though levels of disclosure was lower in China, relationship satisfaction was no different from that in the US
therefore social penetration theory is a limited explanation of romantic relationships because it is not necessarily generalisable to other cultures
Nomothetic
it tires to generate behavioural laws applicable to all people - that higher self disclosure with always lead to greater relationship satisfaction
however as other factors can influence realtionships such as cultural norms
therefore explanations based on the idographic approach, looking at couple's unique expereinces in detail without trying to apply findings to all couples may be more appropriate for studying romantic realtionships