Social penetration theory: Personal example
In a personal sense, joining a club or going for a job interview can be considered a form of social penetration. This is due to the fact that you have to willingly expose yourself to people, from experiences to reason for applying in both cases. However, once approved, that is when social penetration has its significance. To elaborate, at first, the relationship between club members/ temporary employees, myself included is merely shallow, with small facts that aren't considered risky. Such examples would probably be club-related matters or a bit of personal information. When time passes and everyone knows more about one another, deeper relationships can be developed. Everyone knows about each other more as the days pass. In the case of withdrawal, once enough time passes again, the relationship will be there, but only the small talk is there, such as current events or how has the other party doing lately.
Media text example:
Various media can show a form of social penetration between people. This could be of any form, from friends, family and romance as they have relationships to maintain. The relationship may be between real people or fictional ones. This entry will discuss about the general idea of social penetration itself by presenting examples.
In a fictional example, Romeo and Juliet from Shakespeare could be considered. This iconic and romantic relationship between the two characters started when they first met. Initially, Romeo, who belonged to the Montagues family was in love with a woman named Rosaline as he wanted to gain the benefit of a romantic relationship. However, the woman did not love him back, as she saw no potential interest in him.
It was not until that he met Juliet, who was a member of the Capulets family, that he would seek a mutual relationship. The problem was that Juliet's family was the enemy of Romeo's own. Despite this fact, he believes that the gain(Juliet's love and the fact that the feeling was mutual) exceeds the costs (Both families' hatred for one another). Due to their mutual benefits, the social penetration went from two people to lovers leading to marriage in secrecy. Their intimacy was so deep, that not even misunderstandings between the families nor death would tear them apart. (1,2) It can be seen for them, the cost (living without their beloved) was too much for either to bear for their relationship.
In an example involving actual people, One example would be between Mark Wright and Emily Scott, two contestants in the reality show 'I'm a Celebrity...Get me out of here!'. Unlike the previous example, These fellow celebrities only engaged in a relatively mild relationship. During the show, they were frequently flirting with one another. Despite their on-screen interactions and activities together, Mark had no reason to take their relationship into a deeper level. This is due to the fact that the show helped him see how she really is as an individual. As a result, he does not feel the benefit of moving on, staying as friends. For him, there is no further benefit for pursuing a romance with her. (3)
References:
1.Unknown author.(14 April 2002). 1968's Romeo and Juliet. Accessed 10/4/2012 from the website http://students.ed.uiuc.edu/bach/rnj24/rj1968.html
2. Shakespeare, W. (Jan. 2006). Romeo and Juliet By William Shakespeare. Accessed 10/4/2012 from the website http://www.itiscannizzaro.net/Ianni/booksweb/romeojuliet/index.htm
3. Thomas, H. (5 December 2011) 'Emily's a very pretty girl, but there's no romance there': Mark Wright ends
hopes of a I'm A Celebrity romance. Accessed 10/4/2012: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2069834/Im-A-Celebrity-2011-Mark-Wright-ends-hopes-romance-Emily-Scott.html#ixzz1rf56bwT7
