Theory Summary
Nowadays, living in a modern world with the advanced technology, people are spacing away from each other. Thus, communication is one of the most important tools that bring people closer. Even though communication gives people opportunities to share experiences, define ourselves, understand others, and form relationships; communication can be challenging because it requires time and effort. In order to adapt and survive in nature, everyone changes, and grows through time. Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor describe this progression is onion theory because the model looks like an onion and involves superficial layers that need peel away in order to reach to intimate levels of communication in social penetration theory (McLean, 2012). The two psychologists Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor demonstrate social penetration theory through a series of steps, which transfer a person from being unknown to known by observing conversational interactions among people (McLean, 2012).
Social penetration theory has been invented thirty years ago, it was developed by psychologists Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor in 1973. The theory states that relationships begin and deepen through self-disclosure (McLean, 2012). In social penetration, theory, Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor studied the differences in communication in relation to the depth of interpersonal relationships (McLean, 2012). Self-disclosure is integral to all stages of relationships, but changes over time. The nature and