Comparing Tom And Barbara's Relationship With Jurisdictions

People are complex creatures, and the way that they can communicate can be even more complex. Couples who have been with each other for a sustained period of time may develop their own perceptions of what their partner is trying to communicate to them at any moment in time. Some people make the choice to be very upfront to their partner about who they are and disclose personal information to them quite quickly, or more commonly; others may take their time warming up to the person. Tom and Barbara are a couple who have been together for just over a year. I have known this couple for this entire time and have maintained a good relationship with both of them; Barbara was my friend before they were together, and I became friends with Tom. These

They talk about everything from what they did that day, including advice on day-to-day happenings, to highly personal things. These two talk about a great range of topics, anywhere from very surface things to in depth as it can go; they show a great deal of breadth as well as depth discussing topics. Different days bring up different conversations. Barbara admits that she has a little harder time sharing herself with others than Tom does. In the beginning stages of the relationship, she did not share a lot about herself, Tom was the one more willing to share. Tom believes that he still discloses a little bit more information than Barbara does, but sees that she share more with him now than she did originally. This is in relation to the concept of the Social Penetration Model: theory that relationships progress toward intimacy as a result of self-disclosure from both partners (Edwards 166-168). Although they agree to disclose a vast amount of personal information they don’t deem it necessary to discuss past relationships or private family matters that they wouldn’t like to share. Overall this couple is satisfied with the amount of disclosure that happens in their

Barbra believes that Tom’s largest portion of his Johari window is open self. She thinks he shares a lot about himself with her, she thinks Tom’s Hidden self is but a small sliver of his window. Tom’s unknown self is considered quite large because there is still a lot for Barbra to learn about Tom that neither know yet. She thinks that being in college they will both learn a lot about them self that they still need to share with one another: career interest, passions, living expectations. Barbara sees habits in Tom that he is not necessarily aware of. For example, he tends to play with his hair when he is stressed. This is one thing that contributes to the moderate size of Tom’s blind