Please Talk to Strangers: Using Communication Privacy Management Theory to Analyze Disclosure Between Strangers

Communication privacy management (CPM) theory has become a powerful tool for researchers in terms of learning how human beings protect their thoughts and personal information with hypothetical boundaries. It also helps reveal how they negotiate the letting down of said barriers in different settings. One setting that has not been investigated extensively is how individuals negotiate boundaries and approve co-ownership of personal information in an interpersonal interaction with a stranger. Using CPM as a guide, this thesis presents the findings gathered through several focus groups and the analysis of data obtained via survey that seek to help explain how people interact and share their private information with strangers. This study found that college students place different kinds of information on a privacy hierarchy and enlist several different negotiation strategies that help them decide when to share their private information and when not to when interacting with a stranger