Week 8 - Social Penetration

Social Penetration as stated by Griffin “the process of developing deeper intimacy with another person through mutual self-disclosure and other forms of vulnerability.” (March 7, 2011, P. 114). According to Littlejohn (1999) defines social penetration as the development of relationships, movement of communication from the non-intimate into deeper level of intimate which is knowing the information more to personal. To my understanding this theory is the process of building a relationships with people started communicating and exchange story among them, from less personal into personal which then achieved the intimacies.

As cited by Griffin (March 7, 2011), Altman and Taylor states review or compare people as onions where the layers of onions represents the different personality of people structure (P.114). Griffin (March 7, 2011) also stated that “personality structure is onion-like layers of beliefs and feelings about self, others, and the world; deeper layers are more vulnerable, protected, and central to self-image.” (P. 114). From my point of view, this simply says that the onion's outer layer are more into representing the general matter of people's personality structure. For example, sharing information regarding hobbies, favorite foods, movies, ambitions and so on. Furthermore, the inner layer represents the deepest personal in people's personality structure which the relationships are built with trusts. For example, sharing information such as secrets about personal or family matters.

Social Penetration can go up to 5 stages which the stages are orientation, exploratory, affective, stable and depenetration (Altman & Taylor, 1973, P. 41). In this theory i will be using a movie of Just Like Heaven as my example to show the stages of the social penetration:

In this movie, Elizabeth Masterson, who is a work-alcoholic and has no time for a social life. One night on her way to a blind date she gets in a terrible car crash and goes into an a coma. She wakes up to find she is having an outer body experience. Meanwhile, a young man David Abbott has leased her apartment. One night she finds David in her apartment. Scared and confused she tries to convince him he broke into her apartment. David tried to get rid the spirit (Elizabeth) away from the apartment. David's actioned makes Elizabeth realized that she's not alive and wanted to know why only David can see her. Then they try to find out this matter together. This scene is one of the early stage of social penetration known as the orientation stage.

During the time when Elizabeth and David trying to solve the Elizabeth's situation, They have talking with each other night and day in the apartment. They started to share information of themselves such jobs, where they are from, siblings and etc. This is stage is the stage of exploratory .

Elizabeth began to trust David slowly as her partner to solve the problem cause David keep on helping her no mat
ter how hard is the situation. This stage is called the affective stage of social penetration.

The stable stage on this movie is Elizabeth and David feels that they have feeling among themselves on the scene when Elizabeth and David making hand touch with each other. Though they don't say it, but the proves of this when David says that he really wanted to help Elizabeth.

The Depenetration stage is when Elizabeth woke up from a coma and she don't remember who David was. David tried to tell and convince Elizabeth about him but failed and walks away.

However, in the end of this movie, Elizabeth has finally remember who David is when David wanted to give her apartment's key with accidental hand touch. The depenetration has change back to the stable stage.

In conclusion, social penetration simply said is the process of changing a less personal relationship to a more intimate relationship by exchanging information with each other. This process undergoes 5 stages from orientation/introductin, explotary, affective, stable and depenetration. taking up the movie just like heaven as my sample, the introduction process is when David rented Elizabeth's apartment and the process then goes up until solving Elizabeth's problem.



References:

Griffin, Emory A (March 7, 2011). Social Penetration Theory of Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor : A First Look at COMMUNICATION THEORY (8th ed.), New York, America: MCGRAW-HILL.

Littlejohn, S. (1999). Theories of Human Communication. New York: Paperback.

Altman, I., & Taylor, D., (1973). Social Penetration: The Development of Interpersonal Relationships. NewYork: Sage Publications