Factors Affecting Attraction - Self Disclosure (relationships)

Question 1

What is self disclosure?

Answer 1

Social Penetration theory

Revealing personal information to others, in relationships - involves the reciprocal exchange of info

More disclosure = greater feelings of intimacy

Question 2

What is Breadth and Depth in self disclosure?

Answer 2

Breadth is initially restricted during self disclosure, due to some topics being off limits

As depth increases within self disclosure, so does breadth
Commitment will increase as these increase

Question 3

What is low risk and high risk information?

Answer 3

Low risk information - superficial information is revealed first, e.g hobbies, jobs, education

High risk information - more intimate information, e.g painful memories/experiences, strongly held beliefs

Question 4

Why is reciprocity important?

Answer 4

It helps to maintain balance of self disclosure within a relationship, increasing intimacy and deepening relationships

Question 5

Evaluations:

Answer 5

+ Research Support, Sprecher and Hendricks- found strong correlations between satisfaction and self disclosure in relationships

• Cultural Differences, Tang et al - sexual self disclosure (sexual thoughts and feelings) in USA was higher than in China, therefore across cultures it depends on the type of disclosure - both levels are linked to satisfaction in those cultures

+ Real life App, Hans and Stafford - found 57% homosexual men and women said open and honest disclosure was how their relationships were maintained = can help improve communication

• Correlation vs Causation - assumed more self disclosure = more satisfaction