Self-disclosure in Digital and Interpersonal Communication

Introduction

Facebook has changed the way people develop relationships and communicate in both the offline and the online world. Facebook has brought to life a new kind of social platform where people have to relearn the rules of revealing and concealing their private information on the platform (Tang and Wang, 2012). Self-disclosure takes a very different form on Facebook, with most users disregarding the rules that govern self-disclosure in the ordinary world. Facebook links people from around the globe in one virtual network where one person can learn intimate details of another person’s life without ever meeting them. However, these self-disclosures on Facebook are inconsistent with the predictions made by the Social Penetration theory.

Social Penetration Theory and Self Disclosure

Social Penetration Theory (SPT) was a concept that was developed by Altman and Dalmas Taylor (both psychologists) as they were working on the dynamics of relational closeness. The theory follows the socio-psychological tradition and takes an objective approach. They theorized that relational closeness starts at the superficial stage and ends up at intimacy (Griffin, Ledbetter and Sparks, 2015). SPT is an attempt to understand how affection grows in relationships and how it might end. The theory holds that people become closer to each other as they exchange more and more information about themselves. According to SPT, the progression through a relationship takes parties through different layers. Altman and Taylor equated a person to an onion, and self-disclosure to the mechanism of penetrating this layer. Self-disclosure includes interpersonal behavior such as non-verbal, verbal, and environmental, which have an impact on the development of relationships. SPT is a bold prediction of how people behave as they progress through relationships. Sprecher, Wenzel, & Harvey (2008) argued that self-disclosure occurs in a wedge-shaped pattern, starting with greater disclosure at the impersonal levels proceeding to lower levels of revelation in the more-intimate levels. The first stage of relationship is orientation, where parties share scanty detail about themselves. This is equated to going on a first date when it is only the public image of the person that is revealed (Taylor & Altman, 1987). In this stage, people try not to cause conflict by avoiding polarizing topics such as politics. They also do not disclose negative information which is saved for later in the relationship. In the second stage also known as the exploratory affective stage, the relationship parties go beyond the exchange of superficial information and are less cautious when disclosing. The personality of the relationship parties starts to become apparent at this stage of the relationship. The third stage is referred to as affective exchange and involves the sharing of information located in the intermediate layer of the personality onion. Interactions are marked by causality and details about the private self and other intimate information are revealed (Taylor & Altman, 1987). People are close at this change and may use nicknames and make inside jokes. This stage may also be characterized by the beginning of conflict. The Final stage is referred to as the stable exchange phase. In this phase, the self-disclosures are characterized by an increase in depth, breadth and openness. Intimacy and honest characterize the few relationship that reach this stage including romantic relationships, and relationships with close friends and family members.

SPT can help in exploring several topics linked to relationships. The willingness to disclose is what leads to increased intimacy and understanding of the other party. Self-disclosure is equated to the process of a person making himself/herself to the other related party. Tang and Wang (2012) asserted that self-disclosure is a window into the uniqueness of another person as a human being. Early research discovered that self-disclosure increases as people perceive the other party in the relationship as trustworthy. People only start the process of self-disclosure when they know the parties they are confiding with are trustworthy. Moreover, self-disclosure is reliant on the relational intimacy of a relationship. Self-disclosure is a crucial component in any relationship as it leads to closeness among the parties (Tang and Wang, 2012). In advanced relationships, self-disclosure underlies the satisfaction of partners in the relationship. This supports Altman and Taylor’s idea that relationships progress from superficial exchanges towards more intimate exchanges.

Disclosure is necessary in a relationship to eliminate the uncertainty that characterizes the early stages of the relationship. According to Altman and Taylor (1973), disclosure tends to be symmetrical, incremental, and reciprocal. If a person makes positive disclosures, the other party in the relationship is going to like him/her. On the other hand, adverse disclosures dampen the intimacy in a relationship. Relationships start with the rapid disclosure of peripheral items, with 65% percent of exchanges involving public items in the first few exchanges. Only 2% of exchanges at this stage are about intimate details of a person’s life. However, disclosure increases through the process of reciprocity, with each person sharing increasingly deeper feelings. Penetration also starts rapidly but slows down as time passes. Thus, penetration can be said to be a gradual process that would eventually lead to intimate and close relationships between parties.

Since SPT is a communication theory, it can be applied to computer-mediated communication. SPT can help to analyze the wide range of topics that people have to share to reveal a person’s self-concept. Computer-mediated communication replicates the exchange of information that occurs in face to face interactions. Tang and Wang (2012) argue that communication on Facebook may not follow the self-disclosure pattern predicted by the SPT and does not result in intimacy and closeness as foretold by the theory.

Theory Research of Self-Disclosure

Interestingly, the results of this theory research support the hypothesis of the Social Penetration theory. Most relationships on Facebook pass through the stages of self-disclosure set out by SPT theorists. For example, Facebook users were more likely to share intimate details of their lives with those they feel close to in both online and offline environments. In addition, trust is a significant indicator of the level of self-disclosure in online interactions on Facebook. Most research articles analyzed in this review effectively extend the social penetration theory to the development of relationship on social media sites.

All the four stages of self-disclosure take place on social media without following the prescribed process or having the impact predicted by the theory. The disclosure of basic facts such as hometown, job and educational background resembles the orientation stage of the theory. In the explanatory step, Facebook users outline their favorite movies, foods, and books. Moreover, Facebook friends also participate in affective exchanges that are the main feature of the third stage. For example, details of family trips, plans, political and current events opinions are posted on social media. Finally, people also make stable exchanges of feelings, weaknesses, intimate details of their past and even their fears. With the full process of self-disclosure being completed, Facebook friends should be closer to each other; however, this is not the case. In contrast, the social penetration theory predicts that such interactions and exchanges should result in people becoming closer.

Park, Jin, and Jin (2011) sought to find out whether the previous examples of self-disclosure on Facebook resemble those of face-to-face communication. SPT was used as the theoretical foundation of this research. The study collected data from 249 participants of an online survey, which was analyzed using structured equation modeling. The results supported the core principles of SPT theory as they reported that the amount and positivity of self-disclosure were positively related to intimacy. The results dismissed the competing assumption that self-disclosure is associated with the need for affiliation. However, the need for affiliation could lead to relationship initiation and maintenance. Eventually, the need for membership leads to self-disclosure and intimacy as the end results. These results reinforced in Tang and Wang (2012), who found that bloggers self-disclosed the most to best friends, their parents, and families in that order. The researchers interviewed 1027 bloggers based in Vietnam for the study. Female bloggers were more likely to self-disclose to female friends than their male counterparts. The study by Tang and Wang applied SPT and sought to find out whether online disclosures where different from disclosures in the real world. The study reported that bloggers self-disclosed across nine topics: money, body, attitude, feelings, experiences, interests, and unclassified items. Disclosure is significantly different depending on whether the audience is online, parents, or best friends. Tang and Wang were able to extend SPT to online relationships where self-disclosure behavior was found to follow predictions made by the theory.

Sheldon (2009) sought to find out whether self-disclosure in computer-mediated communication follows the uncertainty avoidance prediction of SPT. The research aim was to find out whether self-disclosure and trust were affected by social attraction to Facebook users. The survey of 243 students revealed that people are free telling their secrets to those that they like. People are more likely to disclose to people when they can predict their Facebook behavior. These findings illustrated that the frequency of Facebook self-disclosure leads to the reduction of uncertainty, and eventually, the interactions bring people together. Certainty leads to trust, which in turn leads to more self-disclosure between the interacting parties. These results are backed by Sheldon and Pechioni (2014), who found that predictability and trust are the essential considerations for self-disclosure both in face-to-face interaction and on Facebook. The research divided the participants into two groups: an exclusive Facebook group and an exclusive face-to-face group. The results support SPT theory, as they indicated that self-disclosure increases the level of social attraction between friends. The most significant result from Sheldon and Pecchioni was that people disclose more to their face-to-face friends than Facebook friends. 

Utz (2015) started by expressing doubt that social media sites (SMS) can be useful in the development of an intimate relationship. The main reason behind his doubts was the use of social media to post entertaining posts. He argues that Social Penetration theory cannot be applied to the creation of intimate relationships on Social Media, as the theory assumes intimacy is the primary driver of relationships. Utz (2015) suggested two paths to the formation of close online relationships, which he proceeded to evaluate. First, he found that humorous and entertaining posts increased the feeling of connection between online friends. He also found that self-disclosure occurs in the private message chats of Facebook. Here the classical link between self-disclosure and intimacy was found to hold. Utz (2015) results were surprising to him as he had started in skepticism on the ability of SPT to predict relational closeness. However, Utz (2015) still discovered that the communication partner’s responsiveness had no impact on relational closeness.

Research conducted to compare self-disclosure on Facebook and in face-to-face connection agree in the powerful predictive power of SPT. Sheldon approached this problem from the perspective of shy people. Sheldon (2013) had initially argued that personality train could impact the way people self-disclose in face-to-face interactions and Facebook interaction. Sheldon (2013) sought to test the hypothesis that shy people are likely to disclose more to Facebook friends than to real-world friends. The results supported the assumptions of SPT by indicating that shy people self-disclosed lesser to Facebook friends than to real-world friends. However, shyness was also a barrier to self-disclosure to face-to-face friends among shy people.

Sheldon (2013) also looked at the differences in relationship development between men and women as predicted by SPT. Studies had been conducted to explore the difference in self-disclosure behavior between women and men. These earlier studies revealed that women disclosed to a greater extent than men in real-world situations. Therefore, using SPT, Sheldon (2013) sought to find out which sex is likely to reveal more in online communication using Facebook. The research recruited 197 college students from both sexes and asked them to report their self-disclosure to different categories of friends. The classes were; an exclusive face-to-face friend, a recently added Facebook friend, and an exclusive Facebook friend. The research used one-way MANOVA to test the assumption that women would self-disclose more to face-to-face friends as well as Facebook friends. The results of the study confirmed the prediction made by SPT. Women self-disclosed more to both Facebook and face-to-face friends than men. Significantly, male interactions with new friends were characterized by more intimate discussions than with women. Overall, the study confirmed that more is disclosed to individuals a person considers close both in the online and face-to-face communication.

The SPT theory is also bolstered by studies in the area of consumer behavior. Many consumers post product reviews on Facebook and other internet sites. However, Choi, Kwak, Lee, and Lee (2018) argue that the perception of crowdedness in online platforms affects the way reviewers disclose information. According to Choi et al (2018), disclosure is influenced by contextual factors as set out in SPT. Online crowdedness is a situation where a person perceives the communication media as having too many people for his/her message to be understood. Choi et al (2018) found out that the amount of disclosure in product reviews is limited if the reviewer thinks he is addressing people who are not close to him. Therefore, the study concluded that a lack of intimacy in online platforms is a barrier to self-disclosure on the platform. 

Joinson, Reips, Buchanan and Schofield (2010) found that people were willing to disclose relatively private details of their lives to a requestor they did not trust. The most important predictor of whether a person disclosed information was their privacy concern disposition. However, the levels of trust in the requestor, as well as perceived privacy, were also critical contextual factors considered by the respondents. In a second follow-up study, the researchers reported that trust could compensate for the perceived lack of privacy. The study recommended an investigation into how an individual’s privacy concerns affect their self-disclosure behavior.

Conclusion

This review sought to find out whether self-disclosures made on Facebook and other media sites are consistent with the Social Penetration Theory. In particular, the theory was concerned about the readiness of Facebook users to reveal intimate details of their lives to strangers, contrary to SPT. It also sought to find out whether online relationships proceed through the layers of socialization prescribed by the theory. Most of the studies reviewed in this paper support SPT. For example, Park, Jin, and Jin (2011) reported that the amount and positivity of self-disclosure were positively related to intimacy. These results were confirmed in Tang and Wang (2012), who found that bloggers self-disclosed the most to best friends, their parents, and families in that order. Sheldon (2009) reported that uncertainty avoidance is a crucial motivator for self-disclosure on online media. Testing on the theory in multiple contexts, including in situations where they were personality, and gender differences overwhelmingly agreed that self-disclosure leads to intimacy and people disclose more to people they are close to than those they have just known on Facebook.

However, several findings were against the theory. For example, it was reported that men exchange more intimate details with people they have just met on Facebook. Secondly, people were found to be likely to shy away from online disclosures if they perceived a platform as too crowded. Utz (2015) also discovered that the communication partner’s responsiveness had no impact on relational closeness. Therefore, further research should be conducted in these areas to find out why they are inconsistent with SPT.

References

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