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Social Information Processing ( Sip ) Theory

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Social Information Processing (SIP) Theory was developed by Joseph Walther and is used to explain how people form relationships across communication technologies. In the development stages, Walther built his theory using key ideas from Social Penetration theory and Uncertainty Reduction theory to aid understanding of SIP’s key concepts. Griffin (2015) explicitly states that SIP theory says that, “relationships grow only to the extent that parties first gain information about each other and use that information to form interpersonal impressions of who they are” (p.123). SIP theory can be simply described as a process where social information leads to impression formation of another individual and that impression will be the foundation for relational development. The three key concepts that Walther uses to clarify how SIP theory works are: verbal cues, extended time, and the hyper-personal perspective. To fully understand how Social Information Processing theory operates, it will be applied to the a potential romantic relationship. Emma and James will be the subjects to help explain SIP. Emma and James are both in their mid 20’s and just graduated from college about two years prior. James works for a top tier financial firm in Manhattan and Emma works for the buying department of a world famous fashion designer. Both Emma and James are currently living in New York City and are originally from New York State. After spending some time living the luxurious single life in NYC,

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