Self-Disclosure: Strengthening A Friendship

Your best and closest friends where not always your friends, at some point they were stragers. We take gradual steps toward building friends that become deeper and more intimate along the way. When we take these steps we are applying the Social Penetration Theory (SPT). SPT was developed by Irwin Alman and Dalmas Taylor and states that “the process of develping deeper intimacy with another person through mutual self-disclosure and other forms of vulnerability”(p. 97). SPT expects self-disclosure to gain an equal response from the other person making it recipocal. The reciporciay can be strategicly thought out and planned to gain a certain result and can also be spontaneous. Spontaneous self-disclosure happens when one discloses personal

Lennie and George, the inseparable pair, are always travelling together. Some people living in 1930’s California find this fact a little bit odd, but to George and Lennie, it is second nature. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the traditional views of friendship are challenged when the reader meets the main characters, one of whom is suffering from a disability that prohibits him from being able to learn and comprehend basic concepts such as remembering facts or following directions. The other friend, George Milton, grows increasingly frustrated with having to deal with the disability, and continually complains about it; regardless of that, Lennie Small and his lifelong friend George

Self-disclosure can be used to produce insights to the clients own behaviors and life. I remember hearing that one of the most helpful things in counseling is when the therapist shares their own story with the client. It can make the client see that we are all human, make similar mistakes, and can all relate/connect to each other. I believe today it is more acceptable to share personal information with clients than ever before. Also, sometimes counselors do not plan self-disclosure in advance it is more of on the spot if you get the feelings to do so. It is more a spontaneous technique that can lead to further self-examination for the client. It can also be

Ally was really hoping to be in a group with Albert but instead she got a group with Jessica. Ally notices all notices all the friendship bracelets that are on Jessica and her friends wrist. She glances at her empty wrist and wonders if all those bracelets are from different people or the same

According to authors Child, Pearson, and Nelson, self-disclosure differs online than from self-disclosure in a face-to-face environment as people feel less vulnerable (44). However, the authors caution, “Be careful in online situations,” because, “Too much disclosure early in a relationship could render you vulnerable to a predator, a poser, or someone with other malicious intent” (44).

In emerging adulthood, many people experience the need to share their personal life with someone else. Erikson name for this crisis is intimacy versus isolation and emerging adults and many older adults know this feeling very well (Berger, 2014, p. 551). As emerging adults begin feeling the need for human connection, friendships and intimate relationships deepen for this reason (Berger, 2014, p. 551). As a senior in high school my friends became an extremely important part of my life, we told each other everything and the need for human connection was evident as I always wanted to be with my friends and share my personal life with them. I had, and currently have, the same 2 friends that I would confide in about boy problems, health

Trust is an essential factor in the helping process. Without it, clients will not feel free to share their most intimate thoughts and feelings. They will not be completely honest or forthcoming in conversations which will hinder the professional’s ability to truly help the client. For this reason, the promise of confidentiality becomes critical to the process. It is the “secret keeping duty” all helping professionals have an ethical obligation to observe (Younggren & Harris, p.589). It protects the client’s right to privacy and fosters an atmosphere in which one feels safe, facilitating trust and allowing one to feel comfortable enough to share their inner most feelings and thoughts. Most helping professionals agree that

Self-disclosure is the voluntary sharing of personal history, preferences, attitudes, feelings, values, secrets, etc. with another person (Griffin, p. 97). As stated in the introduction Altman and Taylor look at relationships as an “onions.” The different layers are representative of different feelings of a person. When

Individuals have different levels of disclosure and when combined with another individual’s disclosure level can have positive or negative outcomes. The decision to communicate can also cause uncertainty within relationships. Prior research was conducted to try and measure what exactly causes the uncertainty and negative results to show up in a relationship. Intimacy, security, problematic events, and irritations are all different elements that can be stronger or weaker in the relationship based on the disclosure (Theiss and Solomon 2006).

Through Social Penetration theory, Taylor and I started out as strangers which lated turned in becoming my best friend. Taylor and I’s relationship developed through the depth and breadth of self-disclosure. The four observations of breadth and depth are peripheral, self-disclosure, penetration and depenetration. The first observation is peripheral items are exchanged sooner and more frequently than private information. As Taylor and I first started to to develop our friendship, we played it safe by making small talk. Taylor

Self-disclosure can be extremely rewarding because of its potential to deepen relationship and enhance trust. When we disclose, we make ourselves vulnerable and forfeit control of information (Beebe, Beebe, & Ivy, 2015, p. 166). One of the two key models of self-disclosure is the Johari Window. The model shows how self-disclosure varies from relationship to relationship. It reflects various stages of relational development, degrees of self-awareness and others’ perceptions of us. It comes from the first names of the two men who developed it – Joe Luff and Harry Ingham (Beebe, Beebe, & Ivy, 2015, p.

To disclose or not to disclose?, That question usually comes when you start a new relationship with a friend, a boy friend, a new job or any new relationship, but disclosing can also happen with people we have known for a long time or not. Scholars define self-disclosure as sharing information with others that they would not normally know or discover, but I feel like each person has his or her own way of defining what self closure is. To me, self disclosure is letting myself go and trusting the person I am disclosing to, it involves risk and vulnerability on my part sharing important information to someone. Therefore I go back to the question I posed before, do I trust this person or not, do I love this person to feel my vulnerability, do

Not all secrets are friendly; some can be deadly. Young Matthew was aware of a plan that put some of his peers in danger, but he kept to himself in fear of becoming a snitch, or even a victim. BOOM! The gunshots that rang throughout the school the next day were the same shots that rang through his head for the rest of his life. Usually when a friend tells a secret, the response is to keep it so that the friend won’t become upset. In some cases, a gut feeling might urge the brain to disperse the secret to a trusted adult if the secret sounds suspicious, or might put them or someone else in danger. The answer seems to differ from person to person on whether to tell that adult, or keep it to themselves. Although some readers of “To Tell or Not

When one watches Spongebob Squarepants, one gets the double deal of Patrick the Star, loyally warbling behind him. When one spies the mysterious Batman, they see the sidekick Robin, diligently copying his every move When one catches the invasive Han Solo, they can’t miss the looming Chewbacca, glaring down at their captors. These unbreakable bonds of fiction have always been the object of envy because they were so wonderfully pure. However, the selfless actions that characterize friendships may be precisely what makes this relationship impossible. In the heart-breaking tale Of Mice And Men, author John Steinbeck follows the treacherous tale of George, a small, clever man, and Lennie, a large, senseless giant with a dream to own a small farm. As they work on the land for money to snatch their place, they are faced with the raptorial nature of society. In this predatory place, old friends are gunned out of their uselessness, wives are callously ignored, and the innocent are driven to do terrible deeds. When Lennie finally does something unforgivable, George can only obey when Curly, the husband of the woman he killed, condemns him to death. Carlson, the owner of the gun that takes down both Candy’s dog and Lennie, represents society’s predatory nature which makes friendship unsustainable, since society does not understand the value of friendship and can only act on what is most efficient.

246). As individuals practice the self-disclosure process, the layers of a person become accessible and intimate. “The social penetration theory posits that self-disclosure occurs as a result of an inward cost-benefit analysis,” (Pennington, 2008). “Altman and Taylor compared people to onions,” (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015, p. 97). Many people are concerned with their statements and the effect they will have on their relationships. “Self-disclosure is reciprocal, especially in the early stages of relationship development,” (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015, p. 99). Achieving the self-disclosure process is a great way to shift a regular relationship into a passionate one.