Introduction
Effective communication is highly valued as it allows us to understand and connect with one another as part of everyday situations. Communication plays a key role in the formation of interactions and relationships with individuals around us. Relationships vary in their depth and breadth; the variance depends on the stage of social penetration the relationship is in. According to the Social Penetration Theory, which is based on the research of Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor, relationships advance from non-intimate to intimate through several stages (West & Turner, 2010). In order for relationships to successfully progress from one stage to the next, individuals must be able to self-disclose, or reveal information about themselves. …show more content…
In order to carry out this study, a qualitative research method was employed through the use of a questionnaire (Appendix A) that was designed to describe one’s degree of social anxiety and their level of self-disclosure in online and face-to-face communication. The first set of questions aimed to define one’s degree of social anxiety while the second set of questions aimed to define the amount of self-disclosure that took place online and face-to-face. The questionnaire also included questions about demographics to determine whether or not gender or age correlates to the amount of social anxiety and self-disclosure obtained from the participants. In order to collect the data, the questionnaire was emailed to a sample of 30 participants, which consisted of males and females ages 18 years and older, who attended University of Houston-Victoria and other universities in the state of …show more content…
A negative correlation appears to exist between social anxiety and face-to-face communication; the higher the social anxiety exhibited by an individual, the less time he/she spent communicating and self-disclosing in face-to-face situations. Individuals with social anxiety have a difficult time communicating face-to-face due to their public fear; therefore, they tend to avoid social situations that require them to interact with others. On the other hand, social anxiety and online communication seem positively correlated; the higher the social anxiety exhibited by an individual, the more time he/she spent communicating and self-disclosing through online settings. Since the Internet and text messages do not require individuals to interact in a public setting, individuals with social anxiety feel more comfortable interacting through environments that rely on mediated communication. However, even though individuals with some social anxiety feel less anxious self-disclosing online, this does not necessarily imply that they will always self-disclose in online settings. The results from the study indicate a negative correlation between social anxiety and reciprocal self-disclosure; the higher the social anxiety exhibited by an individual, the less likely he/she is to self-disclose if they see
Effective communication is highly valued as it allows us to understand and connect with one another as part of everyday situations. Communication plays a key role in the formation of interactions and relationships with individuals around us. Relationships vary in their depth and breadth; the variance depends on the stage of social penetration the relationship is in. According to the Social Penetration Theory, which is based on the research of Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor, relationships advance from non-intimate to intimate through several stages (West & Turner, 2010). In order for relationships to successfully progress from one stage to the next, individuals must be able to self-disclose, or reveal information about themselves. …show more content…
In order to carry out this study, a qualitative research method was employed through the use of a questionnaire (Appendix A) that was designed to describe one’s degree of social anxiety and their level of self-disclosure in online and face-to-face communication. The first set of questions aimed to define one’s degree of social anxiety while the second set of questions aimed to define the amount of self-disclosure that took place online and face-to-face. The questionnaire also included questions about demographics to determine whether or not gender or age correlates to the amount of social anxiety and self-disclosure obtained from the participants. In order to collect the data, the questionnaire was emailed to a sample of 30 participants, which consisted of males and females ages 18 years and older, who attended University of Houston-Victoria and other universities in the state of …show more content…
A negative correlation appears to exist between social anxiety and face-to-face communication; the higher the social anxiety exhibited by an individual, the less time he/she spent communicating and self-disclosing in face-to-face situations. Individuals with social anxiety have a difficult time communicating face-to-face due to their public fear; therefore, they tend to avoid social situations that require them to interact with others. On the other hand, social anxiety and online communication seem positively correlated; the higher the social anxiety exhibited by an individual, the more time he/she spent communicating and self-disclosing through online settings. Since the Internet and text messages do not require individuals to interact in a public setting, individuals with social anxiety feel more comfortable interacting through environments that rely on mediated communication. However, even though individuals with some social anxiety feel less anxious self-disclosing online, this does not necessarily imply that they will always self-disclose in online settings. The results from the study indicate a negative correlation between social anxiety and reciprocal self-disclosure; the higher the social anxiety exhibited by an individual, the less likely he/she is to self-disclose if they see