Factors Affecting Attraction: Self Disclosure Flashcards
What is self disclosure?
How does the amount of self disclosure change as the relationship progresses?
Revealing personal information about yourself.
As relationships progress, partners start to reveal deeper information about themselves to each other in a reciprocal way.
Who proposed social penetration theory?
Altman and Taylor
What is social penetration theory?
The process of gradually revealing information to your partner. Information becomes deeper as partners ‘penetrate’ further into each other’s lives.
Describe ‘reciprocity’ in self disclosure.
When one partner reveals personal information, this signals to the other partner that they trust them, encouraging the other partner to reveal deeper information about themselves. Therefore, the partner reciprocates by revealing deeper information.
What is breadth?
The amount of information shared with a partner.
What is depth?
How personal the information revealed is.
As breadth and depth increase, the relationship becomes…
Deeper.
Why is low risk information revealed at the start of a relationship?
This is so we don’t come across as ‘weird’ or ‘excessive’ that could put off a potential partner.
Why do couples exchange high risk information later on in relationships?
They feel more comfortable to share it with their partner.
Describe the onion theory of self disclosure.
At the start, pieces of information are revealed that we would share with anyone.
Later on, as layers of the onion are peeled back, information revealed is deeper.
Explain the strength that there is research support for several predictions made about self disclosure from social penetration theory.
Sprecher and Hendrick found a correlation between satisfaction and what other variable?
What did they find about relationships that used more self disclosure?
What did they find about self disclosure that was reciprocated?
What are the issues with correlational research?
What are the issues with research only focusing on heterosexual couples?
Sprecher and Hendrick studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong correlations between satisfaction and self-disclosure between both partners. Men and women who used self-disclosure were more satisfied and committed to their romantic relationship. Further research also found that relationships were more satisfying when self-disclosure was reciprocated. These findings therefore increase the validity of the theory. On the other hand, this research is correlational, so we cannot accurately conclude that satisfaction is caused by self-disclosure. The research also only focuses on heterosexual couples, therefore we cannot draw the same conclusions for homosexual couples.
Explain the strength that research into self disclosure can improve communication in relationships.
What did Haas and Stafford find about why 57% of gay men and women use self disclosure?
How are ‘less skilled partners’ able to use self disclosure to improve relationships?
Therefore, how is self disclosure valuable in the world?
Romantic partners sometimes use self-disclosure to deliberately strengthen their bond. Haas and Stafford found that 57% of gay men and women said that open and honest self-disclosure was the main way that they maintained their relationships. If less skilled partners learn to use self-disclosure instead of using small talk then they may be able to increase their satisfaction and strengthen their relationships. This is valuable for helping those who may have problems with their relationships.
Explain the limitation that increasing self disclosure may not improve relationships in other cultures.
Tang reviewed research into what type of self disclosure in which 2 cultures?
In which culture did couples disclose the most to each other? How did this compare to satisfaction levels?
Therefore, self disclosure theory does not g_______ to other cultures.
Tang reviewed research into sexual self-disclosure and concluded that men/women in the USA (individualist culture) disclose more information than men/women in China (collectivist culture). Despite lower levels of disclosure in China, levels of satisfaction were no different to those in the USA. Therefore, self-disclosure theory doesn’t generalize to other cultures.
Explain the limitation that self disclosure can lead to breakdown of relationships in some relationships.
Use the example of Ducks theory.
While social penetration theory suggests that as relationships become more satisfying as more information is disclosed, other theories of relationship breakdown (such as research from duck) have disproved this. These theories state that partners self-disclose more often and more deeply as the relationship deteriorates. This does not increase satisfaction and is often not enough to save the relationship. This means that the theory of social penetration may not apply to all relationships.
