Petronio’s Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory measures boundaries between disclosure and concealing of private information.
Most of the theories considered only one concrete aspect of communication while Petronio’s Theory balances the extent of disclosure and concealing. The main findings of this theory are:
disclosed information may stay private if all parties agree as to the level of its confidentiality; the theory gives an explanation of how boundary rules can be established by parties involved in communication.
CPM intersects with other communication theories, such as Social Penetration Theory, Uncertainty Reduction Theory and Relational Dialectics relating different parts of these theories.
Social Penetration Theory explains the need of disclosure to develop closeness which is necessary for deep relationships and emphasizes on contradictions management. It also defines depth and breadth of disclosure while CPM Theory explains communication boundaries and describes privacy rules management. On the contrary to Penetration Theory, CPM adopts functional approach rather than the logical approach.
While Uncertainty Reduction Theory emphasizes an essential need of individuals for additional information in order to reduce uncertainty during communication, CPM regulates the extent to which such reciprocal penetration may exceed. CPM explains the extent of disclosure with the existence of social norms and personal boundaries.
CPM intersects with Relational Dialectics in the part which described as “expression-nonexpression” in Relational Dialectics. Issues of candor and discretion were briefly discussed in Relational Dialectics in comparison to detailed information related to sharing private information measures represented in CPM.
In general, CPM Theory represents a deeper research of the issues raised in previous theories. Previous theories researched separate parts of communication while CPM explained social and private measures of disclosure and considered the communication process as a whole.
