SOCIAL PENETRATION THEORY
TITLE PAGE BY JACQUI CARNER
I remember the first day that I moved into the dorms
my freshman year. It was good old Brown Hall.
I was going to live in a quad with three other girls that I had
never met before. I had spoken to all of them on the
phone and everyone seemed nice but I was nervous. However, the
first night we spent together was great. We ordered pizza
and talked all night. It was nothing personal, we were just
getting to know each other. Actually, for a little while
everything seemed to be going great. Then the layers of
our personalities started to peel away. We came to the point
where we had been together so long that we began to penetrate
each other's personalities. I discovered, to my dismay,
that I had very little in common with them. I ended up moving
out spring quarter.
Why did this happen? Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor
have a theory to explain it. It is called the Social
Penetration Theory. It works along the lines of a multi-
layered personality. It is like,-(no I was not going to
say an onion.), the earth. On the outside layer is our public self.
This includes our physical appearance and our outward attitudes.
It is like all the landmasses and water that everyone can see on the
crust of the earth.
If you peel away this outer crust than you expose the mantle of
semiprivate attitudes. These are revealed only to some
people. They are not obvious from your public self just
as the mantle is not able to be seen from the surface of
the earth.
If you keep peeling away the layers you make it into the core of a person.
This is the hotspot. Here you will discover their values,
self-concept, unresolved conflicts, and deep emotions. Often times
no one will have reached this part of a person.
Now that you know how the Social Penetration Theory works,
the rest of my group is going to delve deeper into its meaning and
practice.
LINKS
Go with Jeremy
and Erica as they research more on the
Social Penetration Theory
Read how Kristen and
Kate apply the Social Penetration Theory
Don't miss Steve's
critique
Visit Dr. Lee'sCommunication Home Page
This link
will give you great links to other Social Penetration Web Pages
If you want to read about other theories that are similar to The Social Penetration Theory, take your pick from:
The Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory
The Information Theory
The Relational Dialectics Theory
The Social Exchange Theory