Chapter 10: Social Information Processing Theory

Social Information Processing Theory largely deals with the concept of online relationships, and how people interact with each other via computer-mediated communication. It discusses how people gather information about someone they are meeting for the first time. In person, people use nonverbal cues, like appearance, how a person carries him or herself, and his or her facial expressions. However, when interacting online, nonverbal cues are not present, as we cannot see the person we are interacting with. Because of this, people seek information they might otherwise get nonverbally through verbal means.

A debate that this theory raises is whether or not relationships that develop online are the same as relationships that develop in person, and there are arguments for both sides. I believe that this issue should be looked at on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the nature of the relationship in question and what the people involved expect from the relationship. It is possible that two people might develop a friendship by playing online games together, but might also wish to keep the relationship in that context and not meet in person. At the same time, two people might meet online and develop a more intimate relationship, which would lead to them wanting to meet. In both instances, the relationship is "real", even if these two example relationships exist on different levels. I don't believe that there is a concrete rule that can be applied to these situations, and that they should be examined and judged on their own.

Chapter 8: Social Penetration Theory

Social Penetration Theory largely deals with self-disclosure, and the levels of information that people are generally willing to expose to different people depending on the relationship they have with them. In fact, one of the main concepts of the theory is that self-disclosure is the deciding factor in how close a person wishes to be to someone else. The idea is that there are many layers to a person's personality, and some are more easily shared, while there are others that a person is only willing to expose to a select few, usually those whom they are very close to. An example of this theory at work in the real world would occur if, when meeting someone for the first time, he or she began to ask you very personal questions about things like your relationships, secrets, religion, or career goals. These are things that people generally keep very closely guarded, and having someone whom you don't feel very close to and probably don't fully trust asking you these questions can make you very defensive and suspicious of them.

Chapter 6: Expectancy Violations Theory

Expectancy Violations Theory deals with the ideas people have about how other people are supposed to behave in certain situations, and how they evaluate and deal with people who break those social norms. How people deal with these violations is based on the context of the violation, the relationship of the person making the violation to the person receiving the violation, and the individual characteristics of the person making the violation. A real-world example of this theory would be if a person were sitting in an empty movie theater, waiting for the show to begin, when a stranger enters the theater and immediately sits down in the seat right next to him or her. Our expectations of behavior tell us that, with so many other seats available, the stranger should not intrude upon our space unnecessarily by sitting down right next to us, and so the first person in this example would definitely feel violated. The person would then try to evaluate what this violation means, and try to determine if it is good or bad. This can be influenced by the individual characteristics of the stranger - if the stranger is someone the first person finds attractive, for instance, he or she might be more likely to interpret the violation more positively, or at least be more tolerant of it than if the stranger were someone the first person found unattractive or even dangerous-looking.