self disclosure

• the idea behind self disclosure is that the revealing of personal information about oneself to another individual is crucial to the develop of a closer, more intimate romantic relationship
• Altman & Taylor - social penetration theory


  they believe relationships develop through gradual increases in the breadth and depth of self disclosed information between individuals. they see disclosure of personal information by others as rewarding, as it signals their liking of us and their desire to be more intimate with us. this fits in with the idea of social exchange. it must be reciprocal.
• what is social exchange


  where individuals are more attracted to those who provide them with rewarding outcomes
• Ajzen 


  sees self disclosure more as a product of information processing, where liking someone comes from having positive perceptions of a person. therefore people who self - disclose personal information to us are seen favourably as likeable, trustworthy and kind
• what factors have been identified that influence the relationship between disclosure and attraction

  1. appropriateness of the disclosure
  2. attributions for the disclosure
  3. gender differences
  4. content of the disclosure
• how does appropriateness of the disclosure impact attraction?

  sometimes disclosing personal information is inappropriate, for example doing so on a first date might be viewed as over the top, indicating a person is maladjusted and lacking in social skills. social norms seem to exist as to what information is okay to reveal and in what situations / at what times
• how do attributions for the disclosure affect attraction?

  the reaons we believe a person is self disclosing to us are important. less attraction occurs if an individual is seen as the kind of person who discloses personal information to everyone, or is someone self disclosing because the situation is seen as lending itself to self disclosure. however, more attraction occurs if we believe an individual sees us as someone they especially want to disclose intimate information to
• how do gender differences in self disclosure affect attraction

  women generally are seen as better communicators of and more interested in intimate information, therefore intimate self disclosures by males may be seen as less appropriate than those by females. alternatively, self disclosure by a male may be seen as very rewarding by a female, as it indicates he especially wants to disclose personal information to her. males, meanwhile, may not be used to and thus feel threatened by females self disclosing intimate details to them
• how does content of the disclosure affect attraction?

  although generally intimate disclosures are seen favourably, disclosure of highly intimate information may be seen as inappropriate and as violating social norms. especially if a relationship is in its early stages. this could decrease attraction, as the recipient of the information may feel threatened and unsure of how to respond. therefore, attraction is generally weaker when self disclosure is of low intimacy or high intimacy and stronger when self disclosure is of moderate intimacy
• what are the types of information we disclose - social penetration theory

  1. biographical data
  2. preference in clothes, food and music
  3. goals and aspirations
  4. religious convictions
  5. deeply held fears and fantasies
  6. concept of self
• both breadth and depth of disclosure will increase as the relationship progresses. in early stages, we reveal superficial and low risk information. at this point breadth and depth are low. as the relationship deepens, the range of topics broadens and we begin to reveal our true selves. eventually we reveal intimate high risk information. painful memories and experiences, strongly held beliefs and deepest secrets.
• what are the layers of information we can reveal?

  • superficial
  • intimate
  • personal
  • core
• Reis and Shaver


  state that there needs to be a reciprocal disclosure in relationships. once you reveal something, your partner should respond in a rewarding way, revealing their thoughts and feelings. in successful relationships, a balance of self disclosure is needed which increases feelings of intimacy and deepens the relationship
• Derlega & Chaikin 


  reported that men who disclosed personal information often violated social expectations in doing so and so were judged unfavourably
• Dindia & Allen


  performed a meta analysis to find females, more than males, regarded intimate disclosure as a development of closeness and thus judged men doing so favourably.
• Brewer & Mittelman 


  reported that the positive impact of self disclosure breaks down at extreme levels of intimacy, especially if it occured between relative strangers, illustrating the importance of the content of self disclosure as a factor influencing attraction
• Collins and Miller 


  performed a meta analysis to find that individuals who give intimate self disclosure are more attractive than those who give less intimate self disclosures and that peoplee disclose more to those they are attracted to. individuals also had increased attractionc to those they self disclosed to, supporting the importance of self disclosure as a factor affecting attraction
• Kito


  assessed how self disclosure affected different types of relationships in Japanese and American students, finding that self disclosure was higher in both cultural groups in romantic relationships than in same sex and cross sex friendship relationships. this suggests self disclosure is an important factor in romantic relationships and is a cross cultural effect
• Sprecher and Hendrick 


  studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong positive correlations between several measures of relationship satisfaction and self disclosure
• Laurenceau


  used a method that involved writing daily diary entries. they found that self disclosure in a partner were linked to higher levels of intimacy in long term married couples. the reverse was also true - less intimate couples self disclosed less often
• Hass and Stafford

  found that 57 % of gay men and women said that open and honest self disclosure was the main way they maintained their relationships. this finding demonstrates the value of psychological insight. if people understand how important self disclosure is, they may be more likely to do it
• Tang et al


  reviewed research regarding sexual self disclosure and concluded that men / women in china [collectivistic vs individualist cultures]
• evaluation of self disclosure

  much of the research does not distinguish between friendship and romantic relationships, making it difficult to assess the role of self disclosure solely in romantic relationships. also, research that does focus on romantic relationships often does not distinguish between different types.
• evaluation of self disclosure

  it is unlikelly that attractiveness of a potential partner would be reliant purely on the level / type of self disclosure that an individual makes. more likely is that self disclosure would interact with other considerations, such as level of physical attractiveness, similarity of interests etc
• evaluation of self disclosure

  an important factor in whether self disclosure increases the attractiveness of potential partners is that of personality. individuals who self disclose intimate information above what is seen as their normal level of disclosure may be viewed as attractive, as it would be more rewarding to the recipient, who would view themselves as having been especially selected to recieve such information. the personality of recipients may be important to. different individuals have different needs for levels of intimacy