Theory 1: Social Penetration

Analytical Text – Social Penetration just like a puzzle

Social penetration generally occurs when the relationship between individuals has developed and the level of communication becomes deeper – it begins from non-intimate level to personal matters. In order to develop a relationship, it takes at least someone to self-disclose him/herself to the others and as the relationship developed, the person tend to reveal more about him/herself both in a conscious or non-conscious level. According to Altman and Taylor (1973), they believe that only through opening one’s self to the main route of social penetration called self disclosure, a person can develop a close relationship by becoming vulnerable to another person.

This theory sees people try to predict the outcome of the interaction before the interaction itself takes place. Based on the above picture, it shows that social penetration is like a puzzle game. This is because in a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together all the pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution. Similarly, in terms of socializing, a person attempts to foresee and understand the profile, pattern and combination of behaviors of that particular person before approaching them. When a person receives a positive respond from interaction with other individual, there is a higher possibility that their relationship might go on. Hence, the growth in relationship will proceed as there is greater mutual openness between the individuals – law of reciprocity.

Altman and Taylor (1975) also stated that the process of social penetration accelerates at the beginning of the stage of a relationship but then it slows down considerably when more private matters are being revealed. The reason for the declining in the speed of penetration is that it involves more risk with vulnerability as a person reveal more personal matters and there is also a societal norms which against form telling too many in rapid period of time.

Furthermore, in order to have a longer and close relationship, a person must observe the degree of self disclosure in a specific area of an individual's life. It might involve boundaries where some personal matters cannot be revealed to another person for his contentment. Just like puzzle, if you cannot find a suitable piece, then the puzzle cannot be solved and completed. Some people get lucky to be able to share their core values and feelings. Those who are able to develop long term, positive reward/ cost outcome are the same people who are able to share important matches of breadth categories - range of areas in an individual's life over which disclosure takes place.

On the other hand, it is also argued that social interaction involves the continuing interplay or dialectic between forces driving people to come together and to move apart. There are times when people want to be alone and out of contact with others and there are times when others are sought out, to be heard and to hear and to listen. Thus, it shows that self disclosure is not one of the factors that could lead to depenetration – when relationship starts to break down and the withdrawal of self disclosure. This is because social relationship involves the accessibility and inaccessibility of one person to another and there is a desire for social interaction or non-interaction changes over time and with different circumstances. Altman and Taylor (1975) are also criticized for ignoring gender, race and ethnic background as the factors which could influence the level of relationship.

In conclusion, social penetration theory states that as relationships develop, they penetrate deeper and deeper into private and personal matters which exposes vulnerabilities, thus trust has to be developed along the way. According to Altman and Taylor (1973), only through opening and self disclose one's self, a close relationship can develop. In order to develop a long term relationship, a person must also look at the depth and breadth of penetration before further disclosing one's self. However, it is argued that level of relationship does not only caused by self-disclosure, but it could be other factors such as gender and race.

REFERENCES:

Altman, I., Taylor, D. (1973). Social Penetration : The Development of Interpersonal Relationships. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Griffin, E. (2000). A first Look At Communication Theory. 4th Edition. Pp. 126-135. Boston: McGraw Hill.

Griffin, E. (2000). A first Look At Communication Theory. 8th Edition. Pp. 113-118. New York: McGraw Hill.