Factors affecting attraction - self disclosure Flashcards
what is self-disclosure?
Self-disclosure is the revealing of personal information about oneself to another individual we like.
In theory, we reveal more to people we like, and we like people who reveal info to us more.
Best when reciprocal - Self-disclosure creates a sense of trust when the information disclosed is kept secret.
Crucial element to early stages of a romantic relationship.
what are the three theories of self disclosure??
- social penetration theory (Altman and Taylor, 1973)
- Breadth and depth of self-disclosure (Altman and Taylor, 1973)
- Reciprocity of self-disclosure (Reis and Shaver, 1988)
what is the social penetration theory??
Gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone.
In romantic relationships it involves the reciprocal exchange of information between partners.
When you reveal, it displays trust, to go further the partner must also reveal sensitive information.
You gain a greater understanding of each other.
what is the breadth and depth of self disclosure theory?
Breadth: at the start of the relationship we disclosure a lot of superficial ‘on the surface’ information.
Depth: as the relationship develops, self-disclosure becomes deeper, more intimate and ‘high-risk’ information is shared.
As the breadth and depth of self-disclosure increases, romantic partners become more committed to each other.
what is the reciprocity of self-disclosure theory?
Disclosure must be reciprocal!
Once you have disclosed something that reveals your true self, hopefully your partner will respond in a way that is rewarding, with understanding, empathy, and their own intimate thoughts and feelings.
This lead to a balance of self-disclosure between both partners, deepening the relationship.
what are the positive evaluations of self disclosure??
- There is research evidence to support the role of self-disclosure in romantic relationships.
For example Sprecher & Hendrick (2004) collected data on heterosexual couples who were dating and found that there was a strong correlation between self-disclosure and satisfaction. Men and women who used self-disclosure and received self-disclosure (reciprocal self disclosure) were more satisfied with & committed to their relationship.
This was supported by by Laurenceau et al. (2005). They asked dating couple to write daily diary entries about progress in their relationships and found that self-disclosure and perception of disclosure in a partner led to greater feelings of intimacy in a couple. The reverse was true as well – couples who complained about lack of intimacy self-disclosed less often.
This research increases the credibility of the idea that reciprocal self disclosure is part of the way that relationships develop.
- A positive of the social penetration theory about self disclosure is that this knowledge can be a practical application to help couples to develop their relationships by knowing what are appropriate self disclosures.
For example Kleinke (1978) found that individuals who were perceived as more selective about who they disclose information to were seen as more attractive. It would make the recipient feel more valued and special, supporting the idea that self-disclosures plays a key role in fostering attraction in the early stages of relationships and help relationships to progress.
Also Hass and Stafford (1998) found that 57% of gay men and women in their study said that open and honest self-disclosure was the main way they maintained and deepened their committed relationships. If less-skilled partners, for example, those who tend to limit communication to ‘small-talk’, can learn to use self-disclosure then this could bring several benefits to the relationship in terms of deepening satisfaction and commitment.
This suggests that research into self-disclosure can benefit people in society to help couples progress their romantic relationships and lead to more trusting permanent relationships.
what are the negative evaluations of self-disclosure??
- A major problem with research into self-disclosure is that most of it is based on correlation rather than causation.
For example, research such as that of Sprecher & Hendrick (2004) found that men and women who used self-disclosure and received self-disclosure (reciprocal self disclosure) were more satisfied with & committed to their relationship. This may suggests that greater self-disclosure leads to greater satisfaction. However it could be equally viable that if a couple are more satisfied this will lead to greater self-disclosure.
Therefore, even though there is undoubtedly a link between self disclosure and greater relationship satisfaction, cause and effect cannot be established reducing the validity of the concept.
- One of the problems of Social Penetration Theory is that is was developed based on research in a Western, individualist culture, so it may not apply to collectivist cultures.
For example, Tang et al. (2013) 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. Therefore, this research suggests that it is the type of self-disclosure that may have more of an impact on attraction, rather than self-disclosure in itself.
This shows that self-disclosure is not a requirement for successful relationships in all cultures, making Social Penetration Theory culturally biased as this theory is based on individualist cultures, and therefore, may not be able to provide an accurate theory of attraction in collectivist cultures.
