Social Penetration Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social acuteness Theory - Essay ExampleThe personality structure of individuals resemble a multilayered onion since if one peels the outer(prenominal) layers of the onion he or she will be capable of reaching the inner layers that are more(prenominal) vulnerable and important to self-image. I had a personal experience that can be best explained by the affable shrewdness theory. I was capable of making close friends with an American girl through employ of the social penetration theory. During the first days at the University, I was socially disliked by accredited friends, but my lecturers persuaded me to look for other friends who we shared same values and beliefs. On the other hand, my parents persuaded me to stay scarcely with friends who offered good social influence. Most of the friends were heavy drinkers, cheerful and would constantly engage in games. Ironically, I do not take alcoholic beverages and it started becoming apparent that this was the reason why many friends ignored my company. However, I was capable of making close friends with an American girl who is a alcoholic drinker. The critical concepts of social penetration theory helped me understand how to excogitate intimate relationships and share personal beliefs with fellow students. The concept of self-disclosure involves voluntary manduction of personal history, feelings, attitudes and secrets that define a person. In this case, I was able to relax these tight boundaries and approached a definite American girl so that we could become friends. I started by telling her demographic information, my country of origin, my attitudes towards studies and social lifestyle preferences. Accordingly, I went further to talk about preferences in terms of clothing, music and drinks. In this case, I give eared to her that I do not take alcohol due to my religious convictions. Accordingly, I went further to mention that my deeply held fear was failure in my studies. The American girl was willing to l isten after I taught her my preferences in terms of music and she too provided me with her biographic information, her preferences and deeply held fears. The depth of penetration explains how I managed to form close friends with the American girl despite our differences in lifestyles and religion. The depth of penetration is the degree of disclosure in a specific aspect of individuals life and is determined by the frequency of communion the private information. In this case, I shared my private information with her during every lesson. Accordingly, the law of reciprocity is innate in the early stages of the relationship. The law predicts that two people will attain the same level of liberty since the penetration will be rapid at the start of the relationship, but slows down as we come about to the inner layers. As I taught the American girl about my family history, she reciprocated by telling that her family lives in an dear(predicate) New York estate. She again taught me that alcohol consumption is acceptable in her family and had no fears of academic failure since she was use to the lifestyle. Accordingly, she stressed that her societal norms encourage cheerfulness, physical exercises and sometimes having fun by taking expensive alcohol. At this point, I felt that the relationship would fade due to our differences in societal norms, but I managed to outride comfortable while sharing both positive and negative private information, beliefs and attitudes. Another concept that is rudimentary to social penetration theory