Self-Disclosure- Relationships (factors affecting attraction)

Question 1

what is self-disclosure?

Answer 1

refers to the extent to which a person reveals personal information about themselves to another person

-leads to greater intimacy between two people

Question 2

A01- Altman and taylor

Answer 2

• social penetration theory, to explain how its a gradual process that helps relationship develop
• suggest to penetrate more deeply into each others lives, must disclose inner self more and more and must be reciprocal
  -Two key elements: (onion analogy)
  - breadth
  - depth
  as elements increase, romantic partners become more attached and committed to each other

Question 3

What is the onion analogy?

Answer 3

like an onion, personalities have “layers”. The outside layer is what the public sees, and the core is one’s private self. When a relationship begins to develop, the individuals in the relationship may undergo a process of self-disclosure, progressing more deeply into the “layers”.

Question 4

AO3- Strength- Spreacher and Hendrick

-and counterargument

Answer 4

studied heterosexual couples and found a strong positive correlation between measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure

BUT

-correlation doesn’t mean causation: don’t know if self-disclosure causes satisfaction
-lacks generalisability: only studied heterosexual couples

Question 5

AO3- strength- Haas and Stafford

and counterargument

Answer 5

found that 57% of homosexual men and women stated that open and honest self-disclosure was the main way they maintained and deepened their relationships.

-real-life application: couples therapy, awareness of self disclosure

BUT
- was open ended surveys using thematic analysis: open endedness of questions, researcher is subjective to the responses. social desirability- making out relationship is better than it is

Question 6

AO3- limitation Tang et al

Answer 6

reviewed research literature into sexual self-disclosure and found that American (individualistic) males and females disclosed more sexual thoughts and feelings than Chinese (collectivist) males and females. relationship satisfaction was high in both. -shows that self-disclosure is not a requirement for successful relationships in all cultures, making Social Penetration Theory culturally biased. (ethnocentric)

Question 7

AO3- limitation, individual differences

Answer 7

theory doesnt account for individual differences. Personality affects whether self-disclosure increases the attractiveness of potential partners, as personality determines different needs for levels of intimacy within a relationship. This would affect how attractive they would find intimate disclosures.

(cant make sweeping generalisations)

• socially sensitive suggests insulting to people in society eg introverts- introverts may not communicate with partner- struggle to open up but may be happy to text rather than speaking