Self-disclosure

Created by

Lexie

Cards (11)

Self-disclosure= an important process in the development of romantic relationships; disclosure means to reveal personal information, eg experiences, thoughts, feelings etc.
Self-disclosure helps to establish trust in romantic relationships, which increases the feelings of connection & intimacy, ie we are more likely to be attracted to someone who divulges information to us & we are also more inclined to reciprocate self-disclosure.
Greater disclosure leads to greater feelings of intimacy.
The nature of self-disclosure:
The rate of self-disclosure is important; there's a distinction between breadth & depth of self-disclosure.
At first, people often share a lot of information about superficial aspect of themselves (breadth), but consider some topics to be 'off-limit' (depth).
The nature of self-disclosure:
As people build trust in their partner's understanding, breadth increases & then depth increases.
If a person 'over-shares' too early in a relationship, then this can reduce attraction as they appear undiscerning.
We don't like indiscriminate shares, we prefer to feel that the information is solely for us.
The nature of self-disclosure:
There is a distinction between self-disclosure given & self-disclosure received- both parties need to feel like they are being given information.
Sprecher et al (2013) showed that self-disclosure received in a romantic relationship was a better predictor of liking & loving than the level of self-disclosure that is given.
Sprecher et al (2013) study:
156 PPs- VS uni undergraduate students, paired into 2-person pairs (dyads). Approx 2/3 of these dyads were female-female & only 1/3 was male-female.
Each dyad of unacquainted individuals engaged in a self-disclosure task over skype.
In reciprocal condition, dyad members immediately took turns asking questions & disclosing.
In non-reciprocal condition, 1 person asked questions in the 1st interaction whilst the other person disclosed. Then, the 2 switched roles for the 2nd interaction (extended reciprocity).
Sprecher et al (2013) study: 2
After each interaction, the researchers assessed liking, closeness, perceived similarity & enjoyment of the interaction.
Findings: individuals in the reciprocal condition dyads reported more liking, closeness, perceived similarity & enjoyment of the interaction, than did those in the non-reciprocal dyads after the 1st interaction. Difference remained after PPs in non-reciprocal dyads switched disclosure roles during 2nd interaction.
Showed that turn-taking self-discl reciprocity= more likely to lead to possible inter-personal outcomes than extended reciprocity
Evaluation for self-disclosure- strength:
Research support for the importance of self-disclosure: Collins & Miller (1994) did a meta-analysis & found that people who engage in intimate disclosures tend to be liked more than people who disclose at lower levels, especially if they believe the information was not shared indiscriminately, but only with them.
This indicates the importance of self-disclosure at different levels for a stranger relationship.
Evaluation for self-disclosure- strength:
Research support for the importance of self-disclosure: Sprecher's research found that self-disclosure was positively related to relationships stability.
With 50 dating couples, Sprecher found that the amount of overall disclosure in the relationships was predictive of whether the couples stayed together for longer than 4 years.
Indicates the importance of self-disclosure at different levels for a stronger relationship.
Evaluation for self-disclosure- weakness:
There's cultural differences in patterns of self-disclosure- Nakanishi (1986) found that Japanese women prefer a lower level of personal conversation than Japanese men do.
This is opposite to the self-disclosure patterns typically found in the West, where women prefer more disclosure than men do.
Suggests the importance of self-disclosure as an aspect of attraction is moderated by the influence of culture.