a communication essay

The Social Penetration Model

The social penetration model is a reflection of the social penetration principle. One of the most notable psychologists, Irwin Altman, developed the principle of social penetration. According to the model, as a relationship progresses, there is a shift in interpersonal contact from superficial to non-intimate to deeper depths. As a result, partnership formation happens by self-disclosure or on purpose. This, in particular, exposes personal knowledge such as motivations, memories, and emotions.

Importance of Friendship

Though I have several interpersonal relationships, I consider friendship to be my most important. Friendship is relationships in which you can voluntarily interact with each other have joy as the reward. I am interested in friendship relationship due to the broad breadth and extended depth regarding the social penetration model. In essence, friendship has a full breadth due to a range of information volunteered by friends. From my experience, I can discuss a variety of topics with my friends. Consequently, friendship has an extended depth due to sharing of personal information.

Satisfaction with the Theory

I am satisfied with this theory due to the long depth and wide breadth as compared to other relationships. I enjoy friendship relationships due to rewards such as enjoyment, affection, security, and self-esteem. With a friend, you explore more and become motivated. You can freely share your experience and opinions with friends and thus learn an interactive lesson. Friends also provide benchmarking to adventures thus facilitating best decision making in life. In my view of the social penetration theory, it helps in understanding self-disclosure in the development of friendship. I believe that everybody has experienced this theory in their life. All the friends were once strangers in our lives. For example, during my last year in high school, I joined the Dance team which had a larger percentage of ladies. Since I was one of the few boys, I felt discriminated. I remember sitting in a room of 37 girls in which I knew no one, a year later, one of the girls became my best friend.