Social Concentration Theory

In 1973, two social psychologists named Kerwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor aimed to formulate a process by which we develop and move through relationships. They proposed that interpersonal relationships develop through gradual amounts of mutual self disclosure, their theory is referred to as the social penetration theory. Self disclosure is the sharing of information about yourself because without it relationships and communication is not possible. In the amount that is disclose in anyone’s relationship, it's primarily based on the breadth, depth, and frequency of the communication between two individuals. The depth and breadth are equally important as depth is how deep you are given to the core of the onion, breadth is the amount of information …show more content…
Once you go a little bit deeper in the relationship through mutual self disclosure on a frequent basis, your communication will likely develop into a more depth interpersonal relationship that is called the exploratory stage. The exploratory stage is characterized by the exploration of topics that go beyond basic pleasantries. Typically friendships are unlikely to ever move beyond this stage of discussion as you begin to disclose political beliefs religion goals and aspirations. It's important to note that by this point, the breadth of your interpersonal relationship with the individual has been permanently established. With certain interpersonal relationships the collection of all this information can lead to the affective stage. This is where you are most likely to see the deepest layer of the individual which is core of the onion and this is where you are disclosing things that no one or few know about ourselves, which is your conceptual self. Because, of the trust that is built from the frequent exchange of disclosure, the communication at this stage is at its deepest point of social penetration. You are able to communicate in a very …show more content…
A short example of the different levels or layers of the social penetration theory in a situation, when you first meet someone for the very first time you tend to just stick to the first layer of superficial things. Maybe when you decide to meet again for something like coffee you begin to go into the more intimate level of the is speaking about things that you value or find important to you and your lifestyle. Now, let's say you have a keen interest in this person and choose to meet again with this individual frequently, this is where you begin revealing very intimate things about yourself and only a few people may know and then you find that this person is disclosing the same type of information that embraces you, this is where the law of reciprocity comes into play. The steps to executing proper self disclosure in a relationship. The first step is the correct context, time and place. You want to make sure you are in the right setting to disclose something for example no one wants to hear about your