With friends like these: modeling self-disclosure depenetration and reconnection trajectories

Abstract

Self-disclosure is a common relationship development behavior. As relationships develop the topics that individuals share expand, and get deeper (i.e., penetration processes). Both current and previous literature, however, neglected the opposing process of depenetration. Depenetration may be an important consideration for how changes in information intimacy affect relationship dissolution. The present study attempts to model depenetration processes to observe how depenetration affects perceptions within a relationship. A total of 825 participants were recruited from a midwestern university or online. Participants completed a series of vignettes manipulating the intensity of depenetration while measuring their perceptions. Results indicated depenetration rate affected the perceived intimacy of the relationship negatively but also led to stronger reconnection. In other words, although sharing less intimate information may initially turn people away, they may not be as reluctant to come back. Further studies should consider how other variations in information intimacy affect relationship development and dissolution.