Social Penetration Theory explains how relationships develop through changes in the breadth and depth of interpersonal exchange. Rewards, costs, responses, and expectations shape further openness. Reciprocity need not mean matching disclosures, and greater disclosure does not automatically establish relational development or prescribe appropriate intimacy.
- FamilyModel
- CategoryTheories & Explanatory Models
- DomainConversation & Relationships
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Theories & Explanatory Models
Explains how or why a communication process works by relating mechanisms, conditions or variables. Its value is an account that can guide inquiry into what produces an outcome, rather than a name for the outcome alone.