36C:060
COMMUNICATION THEORY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Professor Randy Y. Hirokawa
Lecture 18: Social Penetration Theory
I. Introduction
A. Social Penetration Theory (SPT) is the brainchild
of two social psychologists -- Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor.
B. SPT maintains that relationships develop gradually over time
as a function of the degree of self-disclosure that occurs between
the relational partners.
C. SPT begins with the notion that people are like onions -- a
person's personality is multi-layered with public
layers accessible to all; semi-private layers
accessible to only a few; and private layers rarely
accessible to anyone.
1. At the beginning of a relationship, those features
that make up our public layers (e.g., age, likes/dislikes, hobbies,
etc.) serve as the primary "attractors" that draw us closer together.
2. However, there is a limit as to how close these superficial
properties can bring us together. At some point, further intimacy
requires us to penetrate the semi-private, and eventually the private
layers of our relational partners.
D. Accessing the semi-private and private layers of our partner's
personality can only be accomplished if s/he engaged in
self-disclosive communication with us. (We will talk about
self-disclosive communication in our next lecture.)
E. According to SPT, the process of increasing intimacy through
self-disclosive communication is gradual and orderly, and it is
characterized by certain predictable aspects:
1. Participants must have healthy self-concepts--
they must basically like themselves and think highly enough of
themselves not to be ashamed to reveal aspects of themselves to
others.
2. Participants must be willing to take relational risks they
must not be afraid of what might happen if they reveal certain things
about them to the other.
3. Participants must have trust in the unconditional positive
regard of their partners -- they must believe that the other will
not, or cannot, do anything with what s/he is told to injuire or hurt
the revealer.
F. If these facets are absent, SPT maintains that the relational
partners will likely engage in DEPENETRATION -- the systematic
closing off of some portions of a person's individual life and
personality to the other.
G. Social depenetration usually signals the start
of :
1. Relational disintegration or
"breaking up" -- the couple begins the process of uncoupling
themselves by systematically distancing themselves form each other by
closing off inner layers of themselves.
2. Relational renegotiation -- the couple begins
the process of redefining the nature of their
relationship
Ex: They start talking about each other as
friends or buddies, rather than boyfriend
or girlfriend.
Relational renegotiation seeks to redefine the relationship in
such a way that the individuals can still maintain a relationship in
which shutting of off inner layers is acceptable.
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SE/Summer Syllabus
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