Describe and evaluate self-disclosure as a factor affecting attraction in romantic relationships.
Self-disclosure refers to revealing personal information about yourselves, such as personal events,
feeling to another person. Most people are bit uneasy of disclosing too much information to soon,
but as we become more comfortable in a relationship, we do this willingly. Thus self-disclosure plays
important role in the development of relationship.
Self-disclosure is a key concept of social penetration theory developed by Altman and Taylor. It refers
to the process in which you reveal your inner self to your partner gradually. Revealing personal about
oneself is reciprocal as one partner discloses it builds a relationship of trust and results in another
person in doing the same. A romantic partners increasingly disclose more info, they penetrate more
deeply into each other’s lives, gaining better understanding of one another. Two key principles of
Social Penetration theory are breadth and depth of disclosure, as both of these increase the more
committed a person becomes. Breath refers to amount of variety of discussion between couples and
depth refers to how personally relevant topics are to the individual. An onion analogy is used to
explain social action theory. We disclose lot of information at the start, this info is low risk and is
seen as the outer layer onion, if too much info is disclosed it can end the relationship at this stage
(breadth narrow at start due to this). As the relationship progresses self-disclosure deepens and
layers of onion shed away. A this stage the individual reveals personal information that is high risk, as
the other person has access to personal, memory, feelings and experiences. Sprecher and Hendrick
studied heterosexual couples who were dating, and found that as self-disclosure increased so did
relationship satisfaction.
A strength of research into self-disclosure is that it has significant real-world application. Self-
disclosure can be used as a tool to help improve communication amongst couples. For example Hass
and Stafford found that 57% of gay men and women stated openness and honest self-disclosure in
their relationship was what had made it successful and strengthened the bond between each couple.
This suggests if relationship are struggling partners could use self-disclosure to deepen their
relationship to overcome the struggle. Thus this matters because the research has value as it can be
applied to real world situations.
A strength of the social penetration theory is that it has research evidence to support the ideas of
self-disclosure. For example Hendrick and Sprecher collected longitudinal data and found a positive
correlation between level of satisfaction and self-disclosure in heterosexual relationships. Thus this
matters because it strengthens support for the social penetration theory as it increases our
confidence in the validity of the theory and the importance of self-disclosure within it.
A limitation of the principles of this theory is that it may not be relevant to all cultures. The element
of breadth an depth does not apply to all collectivist cultures. For example tang et al reviewed
research regarding sexual self-disclosure and found that men and women disclosed more in
individualistic cultures like the USA in comparison to collectivists cultures like China. Thus this
matters because self-disclosure as a factor affecting attraction in romantic relationships may not be
generalisable to all cultures and therefore offering a limited explanation.
Another limitation of self-disclosure is that it does not support all failing relationships. For example
Duck proposed a phase model of relationship breakdown. He outlined a series of stages in which
couples pass through before a relationship is broken down. The dyadic phase involves couples using
self-disclosure in order to sustain relationships. However this may still lead to relationships breaking
down. Thus this matters because it affects the validity of the social penetration theory. As couples
who disclose intimate feeling to each other may still not be able to salvage their relationship.
Self-disclosure refers to revealing personal information about yourselves, such as personal events,
feeling to another person. Most people are bit uneasy of disclosing too much information to soon,
but as we become more comfortable in a relationship, we do this willingly. Thus self-disclosure plays
important role in the development of relationship.
Self-disclosure is a key concept of social penetration theory developed by Altman and Taylor. It refers
to the process in which you reveal your inner self to your partner gradually. Revealing personal about
oneself is reciprocal as one partner discloses it builds a relationship of trust and results in another
person in doing the same. A romantic partners increasingly disclose more info, they penetrate more
deeply into each other’s lives, gaining better understanding of one another. Two key principles of
Social Penetration theory are breadth and depth of disclosure, as both of these increase the more
committed a person becomes. Breath refers to amount of variety of discussion between couples and
depth refers to how personally relevant topics are to the individual. An onion analogy is used to
explain social action theory. We disclose lot of information at the start, this info is low risk and is
seen as the outer layer onion, if too much info is disclosed it can end the relationship at this stage
(breadth narrow at start due to this). As the relationship progresses self-disclosure deepens and
layers of onion shed away. A this stage the individual reveals personal information that is high risk, as
the other person has access to personal, memory, feelings and experiences. Sprecher and Hendrick
studied heterosexual couples who were dating, and found that as self-disclosure increased so did
relationship satisfaction.
A strength of research into self-disclosure is that it has significant real-world application. Self-
disclosure can be used as a tool to help improve communication amongst couples. For example Hass
and Stafford found that 57% of gay men and women stated openness and honest self-disclosure in
their relationship was what had made it successful and strengthened the bond between each couple.
This suggests if relationship are struggling partners could use self-disclosure to deepen their
relationship to overcome the struggle. Thus this matters because the research has value as it can be
applied to real world situations.
A strength of the social penetration theory is that it has research evidence to support the ideas of
self-disclosure. For example Hendrick and Sprecher collected longitudinal data and found a positive
correlation between level of satisfaction and self-disclosure in heterosexual relationships. Thus this
matters because it strengthens support for the social penetration theory as it increases our
confidence in the validity of the theory and the importance of self-disclosure within it.
A limitation of the principles of this theory is that it may not be relevant to all cultures. The element
of breadth an depth does not apply to all collectivist cultures. For example tang et al reviewed
research regarding sexual self-disclosure and found that men and women disclosed more in
individualistic cultures like the USA in comparison to collectivists cultures like China. Thus this
matters because self-disclosure as a factor affecting attraction in romantic relationships may not be
generalisable to all cultures and therefore offering a limited explanation.
Another limitation of self-disclosure is that it does not support all failing relationships. For example
Duck proposed a phase model of relationship breakdown. He outlined a series of stages in which
couples pass through before a relationship is broken down. The dyadic phase involves couples using
self-disclosure in order to sustain relationships. However this may still lead to relationships breaking
down. Thus this matters because it affects the validity of the social penetration theory. As couples
who disclose intimate feeling to each other may still not be able to salvage their relationship.
