Final answer:
Self-disclosure is the act of sharing one's private thoughts and feelings with others, which helps in creating deeper connections and fostering intimacy in relationships.
Step-by-step explanation:
Self-disclosure is the act of sharing your own private thoughts and feelings with others. This is an important concept in building and maintaining intimate and healthy relationships. It allows for a deeper connection and understanding between individuals. In the context of social psychology, sharing such personal information is seen as a way of creating closeness and trust with someone else. This is often considered a reciprocal process where both parties in a relationship are expected to open up to each other over time, thereby fostering a sense of mutual vulnerability and intimacy.
On the other hand, introspection involves looking inward at one's own thoughts and feelings but does not necessarily involve sharing them with others. Self-assertion is confidently asserting one's rights or opinions. The process described in the question is distinctly characterized by the willingness to let others know your inner world, which aligns with the definition of self-disclosure.