Exploring Tensions between Self-Disclosure and Privacy Needs: The Future of Communication Boundary Management Theories.

The boundary metaphor has been used successfully over the past two decades to explain and predict how individuals manage the tensions between the need to self-disclose and the need for privacy within interpersonal relationships. This paper explores the history of Communication Boundary Management Theories and presents suggestions for modifying the theories as well as avenues for future research. The paper suggests that research needs to more fully investigate the transactional nature of negotiated boundaries and to examine nonverbal behaviors. It also suggests that a more strategic approach for studying boundary management would be to identify key contexts where privacy and the need to disclose come into conflict. (Contains 10 references.) (Author/CR)