10.1.4
Factors Affecting Attraction: Self-Disclosure
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Factors Affecting Attraction: Self-Disclosure
Self-disclosure refers to the details people reveal about themselves to a partner. As breadth and depth increase, romantic partners become more committed to each other.

Explanation of self-disclosure
- People often don’t disclose too much about themselves early on in a new relationship.
- But sharing things about ourselves helps people know each other better and helps to strengthen relationships.

Altman and Taylor (1973)
- Self-disclosure is a major concept within Altman and Taylor’s (1973) social penetration theory (SPT).
- They studied the development of interpersonal relationships and the gradual process of revealing our inner-self to another person.

Altman and Taylor (1973) cont.
- They argued that trust between two intimate partners is created through the reciprocal exchange of information.
- By increasing these disclosures, romantic partners penetrate more deeply into each other’s lives. In the process, they gain a greater understanding of each other.
Elements of Self-Disclosure: Depth and Breadth
According to Altman and Taylor (1973), self-disclosure has two elements: breadth and depth.

Depth
- The metaphor of a multi-layered onion is often used to illustrate the idea of depth in self-disclosure.
- We disclose a lot about ourselves at the start of a relationship, but details are superficial (only on the surface, like the outer layer of an onion).

Depth cont.
- These are the kinds of details we might disclose to friends or co-workers.
- Only as the relationship matures do we begin to disclose deeper details about ourselves.

Breadth
- Self-disclosure can be restricted because we see many topics as being off limits in the early stages of a relationship.
- People don’t want to reveal too much too soon for fear of ruining the relationship.
- This means their breadth of topics is reduced in the early stages of a relationship.
Elements of Self-Disclosure: Self-Reciprocity
Another key element of self-disclosure is reciprocity. That is, once you have disclosed something to your partner, they will disclose something to you.

Reis and Shaver (1988)
- Reis and Shaver (1988) view reciprocity as essential for any romantic relationship to develop.
- As we reveal something about our true self, our partner will respond. This increases levels of understanding, empathy and other intimate thoughts and feelings.
- This will also increase intimacy and deepen the relationship.
1Social Influence
1.1Social Influence
2Memory
2.1Memory
3Attachment
3.1Attachment
4(2026 Exams) Psychopathology
4.1Psychopathology
5(2027 Exams) Clinical Psychology & Mental Health
5.1Clinical Psychology & Mental Health
6Approaches in Psychology
6.1Approaches in Psychology
6.2Comparison of Approaches (A2 only)
7Biopsychology
7.1Biopsychology
8Research Methods
8.1Research Methods
8.2Scientific Processes
8.3Data Handling & Analysis
9Issues & Debates in Psychology (A2 only)
9.1Issues & Debates in Psychology (A2 only)
10Option 1: Relationships (A2 only)
10.1Relationships: Sexual Relationships (A2 only)
10.2Relationships: Romantic Relationships (A2 only)
10.3(2026 Exams) Relationships: Virtual (A2 only)
10.4(2027 Exams) Relationships: Online (A2 only)
11Option 1: Gender (A2 only)
11.1(2026 Exams) Gender (A2 only)
11.2(2027 Exams) Gender (A2 only)
12Option 1: Cognition & Development (A2 only)
12.1Cognition & Development (A2 only)
13Option 2: Schizophrenia (A2 only)
13.1Schizophrenia: Diagnosis (A2 only)
13.2Schizophrenia: Treatment (A2 only)
14Option 2: Eating Behaviour (A2 only)
14.1Eating Behaviour (A2 only)
15Option 2: Stress (A2 only)
15.1Stress (A2 only)
16Option 3: Aggression (A2 only)
16.1Aggression: Physiological (A2 only)
16.2Aggression: Social Psychological (A2 only)
17Option 3: Forensic Psychology (A2 only)
17.1Forensic Psychology (A2 only)
18Option 3: Addiction (A2 only)
18.1Addiction (A2 only)
18.2Treating Addiction (A2 only)
Jump to other topics
1Social Influence
1.1Social Influence
2Memory
2.1Memory
3Attachment
3.1Attachment
4(2026 Exams) Psychopathology
4.1Psychopathology
5(2027 Exams) Clinical Psychology & Mental Health
5.1Clinical Psychology & Mental Health
6Approaches in Psychology
6.1Approaches in Psychology
6.2Comparison of Approaches (A2 only)
7Biopsychology
7.1Biopsychology
8Research Methods
8.1Research Methods
8.2Scientific Processes
8.3Data Handling & Analysis
9Issues & Debates in Psychology (A2 only)
9.1Issues & Debates in Psychology (A2 only)
10Option 1: Relationships (A2 only)
10.1Relationships: Sexual Relationships (A2 only)
10.2Relationships: Romantic Relationships (A2 only)
10.3(2026 Exams) Relationships: Virtual (A2 only)
10.4(2027 Exams) Relationships: Online (A2 only)
11Option 1: Gender (A2 only)
11.1(2026 Exams) Gender (A2 only)
11.2(2027 Exams) Gender (A2 only)
12Option 1: Cognition & Development (A2 only)
12.1Cognition & Development (A2 only)
13Option 2: Schizophrenia (A2 only)
13.1Schizophrenia: Diagnosis (A2 only)
13.2Schizophrenia: Treatment (A2 only)
14Option 2: Eating Behaviour (A2 only)
14.1Eating Behaviour (A2 only)
15Option 2: Stress (A2 only)
15.1Stress (A2 only)
16Option 3: Aggression (A2 only)
16.1Aggression: Physiological (A2 only)
16.2Aggression: Social Psychological (A2 only)
17Option 3: Forensic Psychology (A2 only)
17.1Forensic Psychology (A2 only)
18Option 3: Addiction (A2 only)
18.1Addiction (A2 only)
18.2Treating Addiction (A2 only)
Practice questions on Factors Affecting Attraction: Self-Disclosure
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1__Altman and Taylor (1973)__ came up with which concept?Multiple choice
- 2
- 3Two elements of self-disclosure:Fill in the list
- 4
- 5Who concluded that self-disclosure has two elements?Multiple choice
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