Self-disclosure

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Self-disclosure

Revealing personal info

Romantic partners reveal more about themselves as relationships develop

Strengthen relationship if used appropriately

Vital role beyond intial attraction

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Social penetration theory

Altman and Taylor (1973)

Gradual process of revealing inner self

Reciprocal exchange of info between partners

2 elements: breadth and depth

Onion metaphor to explain - increasingly disclose more info

Breadth - low risk info at start of relationship, superficial, narrow because many subjects are off-limits

Depth - self-disclosures becomes deeper, reveal true selves, eventually reveal high risk info

'Depenetration' - describe dissatisfied partners self-disclose less as they gradually disengage from the relationship

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Onion metaphor

Layers:

Superficial

Intimate

Personal

Core

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Reiss and Shaver (1988)

Must be reciprocal element to self-disclosure for relationship to develop

Should both reveal intimate thoughts and feelings

Tends to be balance of self-disclosure in successful romantic relationships - creates intimacy and deeper understanding

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Shaver et al (2013)

AIM

Investigate role of reciprocal self-disclosure

METHOD: 156 uni students in America - paired in female-female or male-female pairs - engaged in skype convo

One condition - self-disclosure in a reciprocal manner, each take turns to ask the other partners

Second condition - self-disclosure was not reciprocal - took individual turns

Assessed pairs for liking of the other, how close they felt to each other, percieved similarity and enjoyment of interaction

RESULTS: Self-disclosed in reciprocal manner - greater liking, closeness and similiarity and more enjoyment

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Shaver et al (2013) Conclusion

Reciprocity of self-disclosure, turn taking, more positive outcome for attraction in relationships than one sided self-disclosure

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Research support

Hass and Stafford: gay men and women, discover how they sustained and  developed romantic relationships

57% of gay men and women - open and honest self-disclosure was most important

Shows importance and real-world application - relationship counselling to help partners develop self-disclosure as a stratgey to improve relationships and improve satisfaction

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Cultural differences

Not true for all cultures that increasing depth and breadth of self-disclosures leads to a more satisfying relationship

Tang et al reviewed research into sexual self-disclosure - men and women in the US self-disclose more sexual thoughts and feelings than men and women in China

Despite lower levels of disclosure in China, levels of satisfaction were not different from US

Self-disclosure is limited as it based on findings from individualist cultures - not necessarily generalisable to other cultures

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