SOCIAL PENETRATION THEORY

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 Irwin Altman & Dalmas Taylor
 Social penetration: the process of
developing deeper intimacy with another
person through mutual self-disclosure
and other forms of vulnerability

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Personality structure: a multilayered onion

 Personality structure: onion-like layers of

belief and feelings about self, others, and
the world; deeper layers are more
vulnerable, protected, and central to self-
image

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Closeness through self-disclosure

 Self-disclosure: the voluntary sharing of

personal history, preferences, attitudes,
feelings, values, secrets, etc., with another
person; transparency.

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The depth and breath of self-disclosure
 Depth of penetration: the degree of intimacy
 Breath of penetration: the range of areas in an
individual’s life over which disclosure takes place
 Process:
1. Peripheral items are exchanged more frequently and
sooner than private information
2. Self-disclosure is reciprocal, especially in the early
stages of relationship development
3. Penetration is rapid at the start but slows down quickly
as the tightly wrapped inner layers are reached
4. Depenetration is a gradual process of layer-by-layer
withdrawal

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Regulating closeness on the basis of rewards
and costs
 Social exchange theory (John Thibaut; Harold
Kelley): relational outcome, relational satisfaction,
relational stability.
 Social exchange: relationship behavior and status
regulated by both parties' evaluations of perceived
rewards and costs of interaction with each other
 Outcome: rewards minus costs
 Minimax principle of human behavior: people seek
to maximize their benefits and minimize their costs

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Comparison Level (CL) –
Gauging relational satisfaction
 Comparison level (CL): the threshold above which
an interpersonal outcome seems attractive; a
standard for relational satisfaction
 Satisfaction: how happy or sad an interpersonal
outcome makes a participant feel

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Comparison Level of Alternatives (CLalt) –
Gauging relational stability
 Comparison level of alternatives (CLalt): the best
outcome available in other relationships; a
standard for relationship stability

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Ethical reflection:
Epicurus’ ethical egoism
 Passive pleasures of friendship & good
digestion, the absence of pain
 Ethical egoism: the belief that individuals
should live their lives so as to maximize
their own pleasure and minimize their
own pain

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A simple notion becomes more complex
in practice
1. Interpersonal closeness proceeds in a gradual and
orderly fashion from superficial to intimate levels of
exchange, motivated by current and projected
future outcomes. Lasting intimacy requires
continual and mutual vulnerability through breadth
and depth of self-disclosure (Griffin, 2009, p. 120)

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2. Dialectical model (Altman): the assumption that
people want both privacy and intimacy in their
social relationships; they experience a tension
between disclosure and withdrawal
3. Communication privacy management theory
(Sandra Petronio): all people have personal
boundary rules to guide whether or not they will
disclose personal information to someone else

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Communication privacy management theory

1. Privacy rules foundations

Privacy rules: Personal guides for privacy/disclosure decisions
shaped by:
○ Culture
○ Gender
○ Motive
○ Context
○ Risk-benefit ratio

2. Boundary coordination: the process through which the

revealer and recipient agree on the same privacy rules for a
given disclosure
3. Boundary turbulence: The conflict that results from parties’
failure to coordinate privacy rules and boundary
management

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Summary
 Social penetration
 Personality structure
 Self-disclosure

 Reference: Griffin, 2009. pp.113-124

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