Social Penetration Theory: Video Analysis

The purpose of this essay is to show the Social Penetration theory is depicted in the “Take a Seat, Make a Friend Video”. Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor coined the term, Social penetration which can be described as a “process of developing intimacy with another person through mutual self-disclosure and other forms of vulnerability”. In this essay, I plan to report how this video was used to depict social penetration, self-disclosure, and the first step in social penetration theory.

In the video, we are shown a community service project by Ali Edelstein whose purpose was to get the community involved by meeting other people. The first step in social penetration is noticing a familiar shape or subject with another person. Once you see that you

know that you are going to have a topic of discussion. This is where the developing process begins to occur as you find similarities or “deeper” connections that you can talk about. When you meet a person for the first time, often times there is shyness and vulnerability. In this video people are put in that kind of situation by having them enter the ball pen without knowing who the other person will be. Now, since there are no similarities that you can draw on to make more meaningful and deeper connects. The ball pen provides balls that have questions written on them so that they may be used as a topic of discussion. Comparing this to social penetration, one can see how this exercise turned into a self-disclosure session which began forming deeper intimacy. What we can learn from this is that people are willing to put them in uncomfortable situation because of their curiosity. We can concur that it is human nature to try new things and meet new people, even if it means putting yourself outside your comfort zone. Not only that, but we also see a person’s willingness to find those deeper connections and make new friends. We learn that the first in the social penetration theory was the same first step that the participants took in the exercise.
Throughout the video people began to share thoughts and exchange ideas and were able to draw on their similarities.

Many people were surprised to find that the person with them was also interested or shared the same characteristics as the. For example, when both the lady and boy shared that they both had a flipper tooth. The odds of that happening are slim and the fact that it happened through the exercise was even more intriguing. This depicts how self-disclosure was used in the social penetration theory. Self-disclosure increases the depth and breadth of penetration by creating these relationships. These two people were able to make a deep connection based on the fact that they both had fake teeth. From this scene, you notice that the woman was much shyer about her fake tooth, which proves that the theory works because the boy was able to make her feel at ease. Being transparent with one another was key in this exercise because that is when the participants began learning the most about one another. In order for social penetration theory to work you need a positive participants and people who are willing to commit to the relationship. All the participants who took part in the study were in fact willing because they themselves decided to enter the ball pen. This exercise shows how people handle being put in a different environment and how they bring forward their values, feelings, and attitudes. It also showed how self-disclosure had to be reciprocal in order for these conversations to have

worked.
In these situations, those who engaged in social penetration instantly made a connection with the other person. While at times there were moments of awkwardness, each person tried to engage in the conversation. Using the social penetration theory, one could also predict whether the people in the ball pen could become friends in the future. Through observation they are able to determine whether or not these people would make a good pair outside of the ball pen. All people are different, in our book we are given the example of an onion and how each person has many layers. This exercise works to take those layers down one at a time by asking questions and having people engage in a conversation.
My analysis of this video focused solely on what the social penetration theory is and how it was applied in the exercise. It also depicted how social penetration, self-disclosure, and the first step of social penetration were demonstrated in the “Take a Seat, Make a Friend” video.
In my next artifact analysis, I play to analyze how the standpoint theory was depicted in the “What would you do if you witnessed discrimination”. The standpoint theory can be described as how people view the world around them and how the world works. In our book, we are given the idea that our “standpoint affects our world view” (pg. 444). In the video, we witness how people react to different discriminatory actions. The host of the show, John, creates different scenarios too see what people would do, coining the slogan “If you see something, do you say something”. The hidden cameras show how people would act towards someone being discriminated because of their religion. The standpoint theory in essence shows how these people react based on their view of the world.
Throughout history ethical and moral standards have been slowly changing. People used to believe that slavery was ok, but now we have acknowledged that it is wrong. Hitler and his followers believed that the extermination of a population was okay. Every single person will have different standpoints on different things. However, there are some things that we know to be universally wrong. As a society people know that discrimination is wrong, however, there are a group of people who believe that other races and other religions are less superior to that of their own. The standpoint theory is what depicts these attitudes and strives to explain why people have these attitudes. From our reading, we can concur that these attitudes are often taught and are brought up through the way people are raised. This is where we get the terms like viewpoint, standpoint, and position. These are all affected by where we come from and what we were taught.
When I viewed the video of the clear discrimination, I noticed how different people reacted. Some people came and defended the Muslim woman, while others even applauded the barista. The main reason that this woman was targeted was because she was wearing a hijab, which made her a clear target for the barista. If she were a man, it would have been much more difficult for the barista to know what his religion was. In our book, we are taught that the best way to understand standpoint theory is to put yourself in the shoes of a women or the minority. In society, white males receive the least amount of discrimination. According to Sandra Harding and Julia Wood, in order to fully understand the standpoint theory, one must put themselves in the shoes of the minority to be able to see the different perspectives (pg. 444).
Harding gives us a great example to try and understand how standpoint theory works, by using the stick in the water example. The stick looks like it is bending but in reality we know that it is not. She compares this to race, gender, class, and sexual orientation, showing that each person is going to have a different idea about each of these things. She goes on to explain that when you have two people from different sides of “power relation”, then there is going to be a disagreement in views. That is what we saw in the video, when we noticed how different people were reacting to the way the barista was speaking to the Muslim woman. You could also see the interaction between the barista and the Muslim woman was very negative because they were from two different sides of the power relation.
When I first learned about the stand point theory I assumed that it was just the different views people have. However, it goes deeper and talks mainly about the feminist approach to it. Since the video was based on the discrimination of a woman, I thought it was the perfect example to use for this theory. One of the main focuses of the standpoint theory is to recognize women oppression. While the woman in the video was discriminated because of her religion, women are still discriminated for many other things. Since one of the main focuses of the standpoint theory was the oppression of women, the video was a good example of showing that.
Through my analysis of the standpoint theory and the “What Would You Do”, I have been able to show how it was used in this video and how it relates to it. Standpoint theory comes down to people’s different outlooks on the world around them and the ever-changing world around them. If we are able to acknowledge the standpoint theory and grasp the concept, we would become better communicators and more aware of our surroundings.