Self-disclosure

• What is self-disclosure as a factor affecting attraction?

  • Revealing personal information about ourselves
  • Jourard (1971) said romantic partners reveal more about themselves as the relationship develops, strengthening their bond and understanding as well as building trust
• What is the social penetration theory?

  • Altman and Taylor (1973): the gradual process of revealing your sensitive inner self to someone, involving the reciprocal exchange of information between intimate partners
  • As they disclose more and more, romantic partners gain a greater understanding of each other and trust each other more
• What is the breadth and depth of self-disclosure?

  • As breadth and depth increase, so does commitment - researchers use the onion metaphor to illustrate this
  • At the start of a relationship we disclose a lot of superficial, 'low-risk' information about ourselves that is indiscriminate - breadth is narrow as many topics are off-limits in the early stages of a relationship
  • As the relationship develops, self-disclosure becomes deeper, representing the layers of an onion that reveal our inner selves
  • We are eventually prepared to reveal intimate and 'high-risk' information - as depth increases so does breadth
• What is the reciprocity of self-disclosure?

  • Reis and Shaver (1988) point out that relationship development requires reciprocity - when one person self-disclose, they hope their partner responds in a rewarding and empathetic way, including their own intimate thoughts and feelings
  • In a successful romantic relationship there is a balance of self-disclosure
• What is one strength of self-disclosure?

  • Research support: Collins and Miller (1994) conducted a meta-analysis and found that those who engage in intimate disclosure are liked more than those who disclose less
  • They also found that liking is stronger when people self-disclose to each other exclusively rather than sharing information indiscriminately with others
  • Supports social penetration theory, as the more information disclosed and the more they are liked
• What is another strength of self-disclosure?

  • Norms run deep: Tal-Or and Hershman-Shitrit (2015) showed that reality TV shows such as Big Brother tend to be characterised by intimate self-disclosure of contestants early on in the show
  • Found that just as in real relationships, viewers preferred individuals who self-disclosed gradually and then became more intimate
  • Supports breadth and depth theory of self-disclosure
• What is one limitation of self-disclosure?

  • Partial explanation: Cooper and Sportolari (1997) suggested that relationships formed over the internet tend to involve earlier self-disclosure, (boom) but since there is no underlying trust and true knowledge to support the relationship it becomes difficult to sustain (bust) a.k.a the boom and bust phenomenon
  • Weakens the explanation as it shows there is clearly more to building relationships than just revealing information
• What is another limitation of self-disclosure?

  • Cultural differences: Chen (1995) found that Westerners typically engage in more intimate self-disclosure than non-Westerners
  • Nakanishi (1986) found that Japanese women prefer lower levels of personal conversations than men, contrasting self-disclosure patterns typically found in the West where women prefer more disclosure than men
  • Suggests that the importance of self-disclosure as an aspect of attraction is moderated by cultural influences