Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor developed social penetration theory; the theory helps people understand human communication by closeness and self-discloser. The book describes social penetration theory by using the onion metaphor, known as the human personality, which is a multilayered onion. The outer layer of the onion is known as the public self, people’s personalities are rhetorically exchanged easily with people who met someone else immediately for the first time. For example, a persons gender, the way they dress, and occupation. The layer beneath the surfer of the onion is the known as the personal self and attitude. A person may only share information to someone who is closest to him or her such as family and friends. For example,
This semester, one of my classmates Brittany and I were working on a project together. She called me a “spoiled rich girl” because I told her a story about my pool and my pool man. This offended me because I may have grown up in a wealthy town, but I never was a “spoiled rich kid”. I told Brittany I am not a “spoiled rich kid” and she then started to point out all my belongings and started to ask me who bought them. I sank back into my seat and told her my mom. She lifted her head from the computer screen and said, “SEE, you are a spoiled rich kid”. What Brittany did not know about me was my mother is a single mom who raised three children alone. My mom had everything taken away from her, but with support of family and friends she made something of herself. I told Brittany my story, she learned not only about my story, but that I started to work at a very young age. Brittany just stared at me and started to tell me about her life story. I later found out that she has seven siblings and her father passed away at a very young age. She also told me she was once a “spoiled rich kid”, but when her father passed away she lost everything and her family became homeless. After communicating with each other for an hour, both of our perceptions about each other have change. When Brittany was leaving, she told me that she was sorry for judging me
The research article entitled “Social Connection Enables Dehumanization” by Adam Waytz and Nicholas Epley concentrates on the concept of dehumanization and the possible causes of this attribution of sub-human like qualities to human individuals. The article concentrates not on an aggressor versus victim dehumanization as to which the authors reference the picture of two Nazi doctors measuring the vital signs of a Jewish prisoner up to his neck in ice water (Waytz & Epley 2011), but rather concentrate on what causes dehumanization between the aggressor and other social equivalents. The article then hypothesizes that when a social connection is activated, the individual is more likely to dehumanize ones who are socially distant from the individual. This was thought to be true, for individuals who are satisfied with their social groups or sociableness in general are less likely to connect with outside individuals, therefore leading to a dehumanization of those who are outside of their social group.
The Social Penetration model demonstrated two way in which communication can be more or less disclosing. The model is like an onion with layers. The first dimension is known as breadth, which is the range of the subjects being discussed, which with an onion as demonstration would be the outer layers. Second is depth, the depth level is significant and more central to ourselves, In the onion this would be the inner and core. The inner and core layers are the things with most private and significant to us. Thus, sharing information from our depth may require greater risk taking. The information from this dimension of self is typically known by and held in confidence by only a few people. Due to the fact
Interpersonal communication is communication that occurs between two people within the context of their relationship and as that evolves, helps them to define their relationship (p.22). With interpersonal communication as a backbone for meeting our daily needs, whether we communicate verbally or non-verbally when we are in the presences of others then communication is taking place. The elements of interpersonal communication are broken down into the communicators, the message, noise, feedback, context, and channel (p.9). The models such as interaction and transactional show that interpersonal communication works as a two-way street between the sender and receiver. When both the sender and receiver are receiving messages and feedback that defines a relationship where both needs are being met. Floyd discusses that interpersonal communication many aspects of our lives, from our physical needs and other every day needs to our experiences with relationships, spirituality, and identity (p.4). When we overcome the challenges with communication we can meet our needs and build relationships. To meet our needs, we must be willing to
She avoided me and refused to answer any texts. On the other hand, I had Aidan pouring fuel on the fire and dispersing sarcastic comments left and right. Somewhere in the midst of this he created a Mean Mady club and said I was the leader. Days at LCDS began to run slower and slower and I honestly wanted to know what was wrong with Mady blissfully unaware of the crap Aidan was throwing out. “You’re cyberbullying” this girl named MaKayla told me. Cyberbullying? Because I texted Mady wanting to know what was wrong? Early one morning I had an urge to get to the bottom of what was going on. I texted Mady saying I had no idea what was going on and I really wanted to go back to the way things used to be. Who responded? Not Mady, but her mom, Kate. She scolded me for “bullying” her helpless daughter and that I should be ashamed of the language I use. I had no clue what she was talking about but immediately after reading the text, a pall of dread enclosed around me. Panicked, I went to my mother. She too had been confused by the whole ordeal, and told me to respond asking what she meant. What it came down to was Kate Gosselin screaming at my mom over the phone as my mom yelled
‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their
According to psychologist Gordon Allport (1985) social psychology is defined as the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or, implied presences of others. Essentially, how the people we are around every day can consciously or unconsciously influence our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Social psychology can focus on small groups, large groups, or even society as a whole. But, social psychology is not only about social influences. This research paper will also speak of the importance of social interaction and social perception and how they play a role in our social behavior. The way we think people see us and the way we see others can play a vital role in our decisions and actions.
Personality is patterns of thinking, behavior and emotional responses that make up individuality over time. Psychologist attempt to understand how personality develops and its impact on how we behave. Several theories attempt to explain personality, using different approaches. The social-cognitive and humanistic approaches are two of many theories that attempt to explain personality. This essay will identify the main concepts of social-cognitive and humanistic approach, identify perspective differences and discuss approach limitations.
As the youngest of five children she was often overlooked. The pride of the family often overrode the opportunity to receive health care, handouts and a decent chance to become something. My mother spent her childhood in a tiny house with her family and many relatives. She was never given the opportunities to excel in learning and life like my generation has. My grandfather was a carpenter and on that living fed many hungry mouths. But despite this already unfortunate lifestyle my mother maintained good grades and was on a path to overcoming her misfortune.
As we get older our, views, and perspectives on relationships may change. An explanation for this is that we encounter different situations in different relationships. Some relationships may affect us more than others, and can even change the way we think and view things. However, we would have to evaluate our levels of communication with different people. The social penetration theory helps us to categorize the levels of interpersonal communication we have with others. Based on these levels, we are able to categorize the importance and meaning of the relationship. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects of social penetration theory and how it applies to our lives.
The social penetration theory is a theory composed by Altman and Taylor in which people are compared to onions. This may seem like an absurd comparison, but when explored more deeply it makes quite a bit of sense. The social penetration theory is a description of the multi-layered nature of people's personalities. As the outer skin of an onion is peeled away another layer is found beneath it, and if you remove that layer you will expose another layer, and so forth. The same holds true for people; as we get to know someone better we expose more layers of their personality and hence become closer to the core of the individual, or the private self The outer layers of our personality is the public self, or characteristics that are apparent to people we do not know very well. Some of these characteristics include a person's world view, studies, and tastes (Griffin, 1997, p. 145). Altman and Taylor proceed to say that in order for people to develop close and meaningful relationships penetration must occur; this process requires self-disclosure and vulnerability in order to be achieved. People are able to choose who they want to become closer to and to decide how much of their private self they want to expose.
One way for individual to manipulate a person’s trust is to indicate how they are different from each other. For instance, there is gender differences between male and female which can lead to them having different perception about society. In
Anna and I spent many evenings doing her homework together for the two English classes she decided to take. One of her first writing assignments was to write a two page paper on who her hero was. She asked me to read her paper to make sure that there were no grammatical or punctuation errors and as I was reading her paper tear welled up in my eyes. She wrote that her hero was me. How my unselfishness to have a complete stranger stay in my home and to allow this stranger to have the same luxuries and experiences that I get in my everyday life was something she had never experienced before. She was grateful that I had "chose" her as a student to stay in my home and that she was very blessed to have someone who cared so much.
The purpose of this literary analysis is to determine if social networks are helpful or harmful to relationships. As social networking evolves, different aspects of communication suffer. Such as the social penetration theory, which “describes people as onions with several layers of information”. pressed tightly together in the cuff. The outermost layer consists of the kind of information you would get.
Humanity is defined by one major factor: one’s understating of the self. By understanding one’s self, one can understand society and the world that surrounds themselves. There is one thing that can often distort one’s personality, one’s identity. By identifying as one thing a person can often change how they act or do certain things. This is often found to hide one’s true motives or intention, but it can also be used to hide hidden factors that aren’t as prevalent. One’s personality and identity are very closely linked, and tend to play off one another. This fact can be show in within multiple works. To name a few authors who demonstrate this fact: Clifford Geertz, Horace Miner, and Andrei Toom. Their works seek to dive deeper
According to Lorenzini and Giugni, (2010) negative consequences of unemployment, however, might be compensated or at least reduced if young people dispose of certain external resources. For example, the help of the family in supporting them financially might prove essential. Similarly, being in a relationship with a partner and having close friends with whom one can talk to might help overcoming the psychological distress caused by unemployment. “Social integration may increase the individual’s ability to cope in a way that reduces mental health symptoms and prevents social exclusion” (Hammer, 2000). Social integration is understood as having a network of family and friends, but also as having contacts with them. In