Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory proposes a framework for understanding how people decide to disclose or conceal private information. It contains three main parts: privacy ownership of information only known to oneself, privacy control in deciding to share information with others, and privacy turbulence when privacy management does not go as expected. The theory addresses the tension between disclosure and privacy, known as the disclosure-privacy dialectic. It also outlines five principles of disclosure: that people own private information, have boundaries around it, control it through rules, and have ownership over it. CPM Theory aims to understand how people balance disclosure and privacy in relationships.

1. Communication Privacy
Management Theory (CPM)
Sandra Petronio, 1991
Presented by :
Vishnu Achutha Menon
Research Scholar
Department of Media and Communication
Central University of Tamil Nadu

2. Contents
➢ Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory
➢ The Disclosure–Privacy Dialectic
➢ Petronio’s 5 Disclosure Principles
➢ Effects of Disclosure and Privacy on Relationships
➢ Appropriate Self-Disclosure
➢ Skills for Self-Disclosure and Privacy Management
➢ Protecting Privacy
➢ Applications
➢ Criticism
➢ Bibliography
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3. Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory
➢ It was derived from communication boundary management
➢ Theory was proposed by Sandra Petronio in 1991, a communication
professor from Indiana University, USA
➢ CPM: provides a framework for understanding the decision-making
process people use to manage disclosure and privacy
➢ Rules designed to maximize benefits of disclosure while minimizing risks
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4. 4
Self-Disclosure
➢ Revealing confidential or secret
information
Privacy
➢ Withholding personal
information to enhance
autonomy or minimize
vulnerability
Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory
This is a systematic research theory designed to develop an evidence-
based understanding of how people reveal and conceal private
informations

5. ➢ Communication Privacy Management Theory (CPM) contains three main
parts
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○ Privacy ownership: contains our privacy
boundaries that encompass
information that we have but others
don’t know
○ Privacy control: involves our decision
to share private information with
another person
○ Privacy turbulence: comes into play
when managing private information
doesn’t go the way we expect
Communication Privacy Management (CPM)
Theory

6. The Disclosure–Privacy Dialectic
The tension between sharing personal information and keeping personal
information confidential – also called the openness and closedness
dialectic
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7. Petronio’s 5 Disclosure Principles
➢ People have private information
➢ People have private boundaries
➢ People have control about information
➢ People have ownership about information
➢ We control this information on rule abse and privacy management
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8. Effects of Disclosure and Privacy on Relationships
➢ Disclosing secrets may damage/end relationship
➢ Partners don’t disclose at the same time/rate
➢ Disclosing to a third party may damage trust
➢ Some may choose to protect others by not disclosing information
➢ Social media and cell phone use in public blur the distinction between
public and private communication
➢ Social media and the Internet are changing what people view as private
and public
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9. Appropriate Self-Disclosure
➢Self-disclose the kind of
information you want others to
disclose to you.
➢Self-disclose more intimate
information only when you believe
the disclosure represents an
acceptable risk.
➢Continue intimate self-disclosure
only if it is reciprocated.
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➢Move self-disclosure to deeper
levels gradually.
➢Reserve intimate or very personal
self-disclosure for ongoing
relationships.

10. 10
Skills for Self-Disclosure and Privacy Management
➢ Owning feelings and opinions
○ Crediting yourself for feelings and opinions
○ Making “I” statements
➢ Describing behavior and feelings
○ Recounting specific behaviors without drawing conclusions
○ Owning and explaining emotions

11. 11
Protecting Privacy
➢ Making a conscious decision to withhold information or feelings from
others
○ Change the subject
○ Mask feelings
○ Tell a “white lie”
○ Establish boundaries

12. Applications
➢ Interpersonal communication
➢ Family Communication
➢ Social media
➢ Health communication
➢ Intercultural communication
➢ Work environment
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13. Criticism
➢ Some researchers have questioned whether CPM theory truly is
dialectical in nature
➢ It has argued that CPM takes a dualistic approach, treating privacy and
disclosure as independent of one another and able to coexist in tandem
rather than in the dynamic interplay characteristic of dialectics
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14. Bibliography
1. petronio, s. and durham, w. (2015). Communication management privacy
theory. [online] In.sagepub.com. Available at:
https://in.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-
binaries/64506_Braithwaite_Chapter_25.pdf [Accessed 26 Oct. 2018].
2. petronio, s. (2012). Boundaries of Privacy. [online] Sunypress.edu.
Available at: http://www.sunypress.edu/p-3659-boundaries-of-
privacy.aspx [Accessed 26 Oct. 2018].
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15. Thank you !
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