Social Penetration Theory (SPT)
Key Points

• SPT is a theory about the development of “relational closeness.”
• Relational closeness can progress from superficial to intimate.
• Closeness develops through self-disclosure.

• Rewards/benefits
• Costs/vulnerability
• Satisfaction
• Stability and security

Self-disclosure is sharing with someone information which helps him or her understand you. Self-disclosure is most revealing when the sharing is in the present and least revealing when the sharing is about the past.  -- D. Johnson, Reaching Out:Interpersonal Effectiveness and Self-Actualization (Boston: Allyn and Bacon) 1997 ,p.33.

Self-Disclosure Characteristics

• The story always represents the storyteller (the person disclosing).
• SD stimulates feedback.  The quality of the feedback is related to the amount and relevance of self-disclosure we  receive and share with others.
• Self-disclosure can be most revealing or least revealing.

** Culpert distinguishes between self-description vs. self-disclosure. Self-description involves communication that levels "public layers" whereas self-disclosure involves communication that reveals more private, sensitive, and confidential information.

** Pearce & Sharp make an interesting distinction among three related terms: Self-discloure, confession, and revelation.

• Self-disclosure -- voluntarily communication of information about one's self to another.
• Confession -- forced or coerced communication of information about one's self to another.
• Revelation -- unintentional or inadvertent communication of information about one's self to another.

• Disclosure increases with increased relational intimacy.
• Disclosure increases with the need to reduce uncertainty in a relationship.
• Disclosure tends to be reciprocal.
• Disclosure tends to be incremental.
• Disclosure tends to be symmetrical.
• Liking is related to positive disclosure, but not to negative ones.
• Positive disclosure does not necessarily increase with the intimacy of the relationship; but negative disclosure is directly related to the intimacy of the relationship.
• Relational satisfaction and disclosure have a curvilinear relationship -- satisfaction is highest with moderate levels of disclosure.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT)
Key Points

• Presumes that “the beginning of personal relationships are fraught with uncertainities” (C. Berger).
• Presumes that people want to reduce uncertainty in relationships through knowledge and understanding.

• Passive strategies -- we observe the person, either in situations where the other person is likely to be self-monitoring (a reactivity search) as in a classroom, or where the other person is likely to act more naturally (a disinhibition search) as in the stands at a football game.
• Active strategies -- we ask others about the person we're interested in or try to set up a situation where we can observe      that person (e.g., taking the same class, sitting a table away at dinner). Once the situation is set up we sometime observe      (a passive strategy) or talk with the person (an interactive strategy).
• Interactive strategies -- we communicate directly with the person.

• Relationships reflect tensions (conflicts, contradictions) that are played out in communication interaction (dialectical tensions).
• Relationships are “organized around the dynamic interplay of opposing tendencies” (L. Baxter & B. Montgomery)

RDT: Connectedness-Separateness

• The tension between connectedness and separateness is if one person wins the relationship as a whole loses.
• No relationship can exist by definition unless the parties sacrifice some individual autonomy. However, too much connection paradoxically destroys the relationship because individuals’ identities become lost. (Baxter & Montgomery)

• Uncertainty reduction theory (Berger) proposes that people want predictability in their relationships.
• In RD theory, Baxter and Montgomery claim that people want a certain amount of mystery and spontaneity in relationships to "spice things up." Without variety, the relationship will become dull and too predictable, therefore, "emotionally dead."

• Social penetration theorist Altman asserts that self-disclosure and privacy operate in a cyclical fashion over time.
• Baxter and Montgomery concur, claiming that relationships aren’t on a straight-line path to intimacy, either.
• They argue that a person has an urge to "tell all" but at the same time, vies for secrecy in a never-ending cycle that constantly changes.

Step Two: Rate the items that follow using the following scale:
1- would definitely self-disclose
2- would probably self-disclose
3-uncertain if I would self-disclose
4-would probably not self-disclose
5-would definitely not self-disclose

The Items:

• My religious beliefs
• My attitudes toward other religions, nationalities, ethnic groups
• My economic status
• My parents’ attitudes toward other religions, nationalities, ethnic groups
• My feelings about my parents
• My past intimate relationships
• My ideal mate
• My sexual fantasies
• My doubts about myself
• My hopes and fears
• My drinking and/or drug-taking behavior
• My political beliefs
• My job satisfaction or dissatisfaction
• My relationship satisfaction or dissatisfaction
• My feelings about the people in the relevant group (e.g., classmates, workmates, family members)

• Is the time, place, and information appropriate and/or relevant?
• Is the audience appropriate for your self-disclosure?
• Might the information you are about to disclose reflect badly on others known to the group?
• Will your self-disclosure demonstrate respect for another individual's or group's opinion?
• Is the situation one in which you trust the other person(s) to listen and show courtesy toward you?
• How much personal detail do you need to go into? Might you embarrass yourself or others?
• Do you have a relationship with the other person(s) which allows for mutual disclosure? How close are you to the other person?
• Have you developed adequate rapport with the other person? Do you feel pressured to self-disclose? Is this something you really want to do?
• Theory into Practice: Guidelines for Self-Disclosure
• Can you trust the other person(s) to maintain confidentiality if necessary?
• Do you feel comfortable self-disclosing in the situation you are in?
• What impact will your self-disclosure have on the other person?