Summary-Social Penetration Theory

Social Penetration Theory

Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor were the social psychologists who proposed a social penetration process that explains how relational closeness develops.

"The Social Penetration Theory is an established and familiar explanation of how closeness develops in friendships and romantic relationships."

Personality Structure: Onion

The human personality structure is analogous to a multi-layered onion. This is justified with the fact that just like an onion that when you peel an outer skin you will find another skin, then another, until you can already see its very core; humans are like this. There is a certain layer after a layer and it takes time and certain relationship development and depth until you are able to know a certain someone up to his/her deepest core.

On Relationship Development and Self Disclosure

The more a person discloses a part of himself to another person, the more the degree of their intimacy deepens. At first, they would talk about their biological data, until one person penetrates the other, more deeper information are revealed by both parties. This is because self disclosure is reciprocal and rapid(at first). On the other hand, self disclosure might slow down as soon as they reach each others' deeper layers, since there are certain factors that keep people not to easily share the deep information about themselves.

Complexity

There are times that disclosure happens as a mere way of expressing oneself and not necessarily as a way of being close or developing a relationship with someone. However, when the listener is turned off or disgusted by what is disclosed by the one talking, depenetration can be quick. This happens when your text mate/ chat mate has been "turned off" with what you have said or commented to him/her.

Keys

The social penetration theory is embedded in the previous theory, which is the expectancy violation theory. Since SPT mainly talks about how closeness develops in a certain relationship, it can not be far with the expectancy violation theory, which talks about the expectations and rewards in a certain relationship or in a communication act.