Social penetration theory and Uncertainty Reduction Theory
Joyce Samantha B. Gula
Com32
Personal Reflections on Social Penetration Theory and Uncertainty Reduction Theory
Social Penetration Theory
Being shy is one of my personalities. Consequently, the tendency is that I have a hard time disclosing myself to other people. Personally, the person who probably has the deepest degree of intimacy with me would be my best friend. The degree of intimacy or in Altman and Taylor’s term, the depth of penetration, is the degree of self-disclosure of an individual. But just like any other relationships, we started with meager sharing of personal experiences or views with each other.
At first, just like what I feel with other people during the first time of meeting them, I am hesitant to share my personal experiences, views or attitude with her (my best friend). When we were in grade 3 and I had a crush with one of our classmates, I was very much cautious about sharing it with other people, because I was afraid that if I will let other people know about what I feel, they might tell it to my crush. It is the idea that self-disclosure risks vulnerability. This experience is not just one of those childish things I had thought of because even until now, I still have the same mindset. It was only after a year, that my best friend happened to know about it. I decided disclosing it to her because the guy I had a crush with wasn’t our classmate anymore.
Till then, I started to be open with other things with her. She, in return, was able be transparent and share things with me, too. She even told me, too about her crush during that time. This would be what Altman and Taylor referred to as the law of reciprocity which is defined as the paced and orderly process by which openness in one person lead to openness in the other. Through it, I became more confident to share my feelings to her because I know that she’s as much as willing to disclose herself to me. Although, during our high school years, we departed schools and loss track with each
Com32
Personal Reflections on Social Penetration Theory and Uncertainty Reduction Theory
Social Penetration Theory
Being shy is one of my personalities. Consequently, the tendency is that I have a hard time disclosing myself to other people. Personally, the person who probably has the deepest degree of intimacy with me would be my best friend. The degree of intimacy or in Altman and Taylor’s term, the depth of penetration, is the degree of self-disclosure of an individual. But just like any other relationships, we started with meager sharing of personal experiences or views with each other.
At first, just like what I feel with other people during the first time of meeting them, I am hesitant to share my personal experiences, views or attitude with her (my best friend). When we were in grade 3 and I had a crush with one of our classmates, I was very much cautious about sharing it with other people, because I was afraid that if I will let other people know about what I feel, they might tell it to my crush. It is the idea that self-disclosure risks vulnerability. This experience is not just one of those childish things I had thought of because even until now, I still have the same mindset. It was only after a year, that my best friend happened to know about it. I decided disclosing it to her because the guy I had a crush with wasn’t our classmate anymore.
Till then, I started to be open with other things with her. She, in return, was able be transparent and share things with me, too. She even told me, too about her crush during that time. This would be what Altman and Taylor referred to as the law of reciprocity which is defined as the paced and orderly process by which openness in one person lead to openness in the other. Through it, I became more confident to share my feelings to her because I know that she’s as much as willing to disclose herself to me. Although, during our high school years, we departed schools and loss track with each