AO3

• Who studied heterosexual dating couples that supported self disclosure theory?

  Sprecher and Hendrick
• What did Sprecher and Hendricks find?

  Strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self disclosure for both partners. Men and women who used self disclosure and believe their partners did likewise) were more satisfied with and committed to their romantic relationship
• Sprecher et al. showed that relationships are close and more satisfying when partners take turns to self disclose (reciprocal)
• What is a counterpoint to self disclosure research?

  Correlational relationships
• Research into self disclosure can help people who want to improve communication in their relationships (real world application)
• Haas and Stafford found that 57 % of homosexual men and women said that open and honest self disclosure was the main way they maintained and deepened their relationships
• If less-skilled partners learn to use self disclosure then this could bring several benefits to their relationships in terms of depending satisfaction and commitment
• A limitation of self disclosure theory is that there are cultural differences
• It is not true for all cultures that increasing breadth and depth of self disclosures lead to a more satisfying and intimate romantic relationship
• Who investigated cultural differences?

  Nu Tang et al.
• What did Nu Tang et al. do?

  Reviewed research into sexual self-disclosure (i.e. disclosures related to feelings about specific sexual practices)
• Findings of Nu Tang et al.


  Men and women in the US (individualistic) self disclose significantly more sexual thoughts and feelings than men and women in China (collectivisn’t). Despite lower levels of disclosure in China, level of satisfaction were no different from those in the US