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Film Shrek: The Social Penetration Theory

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In 1973 social psychologists Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor formulated a process, the social penetration theory, that aimed to explain how people develop and move through relationships. Their theory predicts that relationships with friends and lovers move in a “gradual and orderly fashion from superficial to intimate levels of exchange as a function of both immediate and forecast outcomes.” (Griffin, 2011, p. 97) Through gradual amounts of mutual self-disclosure people form interpersonal relationships. People don’t tend to disclose personal information automatically they remain protective over the details that may reveal their true self. It takes time to reveal any true life-altering experiences with someone you’ve just met. In order to completely …show more content…

Each layer illustrates who we are as a friend, lover, or even as an acquittance. This onion notion is referred in multiple films and Television Programs. In the DreamWorks Animation film Shrek, the ogre depicts to his donkey sidekick the realities of a multilayered interpersonal relationship through the metaphorical use of an onion. Each opinion, belief, prejudice, and obsession is layered around and within each individual. In order to discover what is beneath the onion one must peel the outer skin, this however takes time and patience. As time passes by and people get to know each other, the layers shed away to reveal the true personality, inner core, of the person. The inner core of each person is made of their “values, self-concept, unresolved conflicts, and deeply felt emotions” (Griffin, 2011, p. 97) things people would never immediately reveal to a stranger or even dream about posting on a social network outlet such as Facebook. As the relationship develops, the partners share more aspects of their personal lives such as life altering events as well as their true inner feelings. Each layer is a different stage. On the outermost stage one discusses basic topics such as the weather while on the inner core increasingly private details about the lives, feelings, and thoughts of the participants are revealed. As depicted by Tang and Wang, “individuals have many layers that …show more content…

This refers to the beginning of a relationship. During this stage people don’t reveal a lot of personal information. It mostly involves “visible information concerning the individual” (Tang, 2016, p. 246) which can be assessed relatively easily through small talk and non-verbal communication techniques such as a smile. Getting to know the other person is the main aspect of the orientation stage. This is the onion peel in which you play safe and that let’s you discover whether a person has a sense of humor or if he or she wears only tight

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