factors affecting attraction: self-disclosure Flashcards
what is self-disclosure?
gradual process of revealing your innter self to someone, giving away your deepest thoughts and feelings
what is the aim of self-disclosure?
- to learn as much as we can about your partner
- by revealing yourself to another person, you share your likes, dislikes, hopes, fears, interests and attitudes
- to share what really matters to you
- to understand your partner better, and them you
- to help the course of true love run smoother
social penetration theory: altman and taylor (1973)
- theory of how relationships develop
- reciprocal exchange of information between intimate partners
- when one partner reveals some personal information they are signalling that they trust them
- other partner must also reveal some sensitive information
- as they increasingly disclose more and more, romantic partners go deeper into each other’s lives, gaining a deeper understanding of each other
- at at certain stage, self-disclosure will be welcomed and hopefully reciprocated
what are the two elements of self-disclosure? (altman and taylor 1972)
- breadth
- depth
self-disclosure: breadth
- disclose a lot about yourself at the start of a relationship
- what is revealed is superficial
- ‘low-risk’ information you would reveal to anyone eg. friends, co-workers
- breadth is narrow initally because if you reveal too much you might threaten the relationship before it’s able to begin
self-disclosure: depth
- revealing your true self
- discussing a wider range of topics, especially the things that matter most to us
- eventually we are prepared to reveal intimate, high-risk information eg. painful memories, strongly-held beliefs, secrets
- as depth and breadth increase, romantic partners become more committed to each other
what is depenetration? (altman and taylor 1973)
dissatisfied partners self-disclose less as they gradually disengage from the relationship
reciprocity of self-disclosure (reis and shaver 1988)
- for a relatioinship to develop, as well as increase in breadth and depth there needs to be a reciprocal element to disclosure
- if you disclose something that reveals your true self, your partner should respond in a way that is rewarding, with empathy and with their own intimate thoughts and feelings
- balance of self-disclosure between both partners in a successful romantic relationship, which increases feelings of intimacy and deepens the relationship
evaluation: research support (sprecher and hendrick 2004)
- studied heterosexual dating couples
- strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure for both partners
- men and women who used self-disclosure, and believed their partners did likewise, were more satisfied with and committed to their romantic relationship
evaluation: research support (sprecher et al. 2013)
relationships are closer and more satisfying when partners take turns to self-disclose
evaluation: limitations of research evidence
- research is correlational
- assuming that greater self-disclosure leads to more satisfaction, but a correlation doesn’t tell us if this is a valid conclusion to draw
- may be that more satisfied partners self-disclose more
- self-disclosure may be independent of each other and both caused by a 3rd variable (eg. amount of time partners spend together)
- self-disclosure may not cause satisfaction directly; low validity of social penetration theory of self-disclosure
evaluation: research support (laurenceau et al. 2005)
- asked ps to write a daily diary
- self-disclosure was linked to higher levels of intimacy in long-term married couples
- increases validity of self-disclosure leading to more successful and satisfying romantic relationships
evaluation: real-world application to improve strength of relationship (haas and stafford 1998)
- 57% of homosexual men and women said that open and honest self-disclosure was the main way they maintained and deepened their relationships
- if partners who communicate less learn to use self-disclosure, this could deepen satisfaction and commitment in the relationship
evaluation: cultural differences (tang et al. 2013)
- reviewed research into sexual self-disclosure (ie. disclosures related to feelings about specific sexual practices)
- men and women in the US (individualist culture) self-disclosed significantly more sexual thoughts and feelings than men and women in china (collectivist culture)
- level of satisfaction in china was no different than in US despite lower levels of disclosure
- theory is based on findings from individualist cultures which may not be generalisable to other cultures
evaluation: self-disclosure and breakdown
- theories of relationship breakdown (duck 2007) point our that partners often self-disclose more often and more deeply and their relationship deteriorates
- this does not increase satisfaction and is often not enough to save the relationship
