3- self-disclosure Flashcards
what is self-disclosure
- revealing of personal, intimate thoughts, feelings and info about ourselves to another person
- occurs when there is sufficient trust
- crucial to development of close and intimate relationship
- tend to reveal more to people they like, and like people who reveal info about themselves
- product of info processing as to like someone you have to have a positive perception of them
- people ho disclose to us are seen as likeable, kind and trustworthy and this could affect affection towards them
- relationships develop through gradual increasing self-disclosure (breath and depth
what is reciprocal self-disclosure
- people expect the same level of self-disclosure from others as they actually give
- the more self-disclosure someone gives, the more self-disclosure they expect in return
what 4 factors affect the success of self-disclosure and attraction
- appropriateness
- not always appropriate e.g. on first date may be seen as over the top/unattractive
- governed by social norms (situ and timing) - attributions for self-disclosure
- why someone self-discloses
- more attraction if person has chosen to disclose to you rather than to everyone - gender differences
- females self-disclose more as they communicate better
- if male discloses it can be seen as rewarding as it signals the male trusts and likes you
- males can be threatened by females self-disclosing - content
- highly intimate info may be inappropriate and violate social norms which can decrease attraction
- might make recipient feel threatened/ not know how to respond
- low attraction when self-disclosure is too low/too high but is stronger when it is balanced
positive evaluation of self-disclosure (4)
+ research shows self-disclosing on the first date can be inappropriate/ decreases attraction, person can be seen as maladjusted/unlikeable
+ self-disclosure was high for Japanese and American students in romantic heterosexual relationships compared to same sex relationships and cross sex friendship groups so self-disclosure is important in romantic relationships cross culturally
+ research which agrees it is gradual and affects attraction in relationships/ friendships e.g. in reality TV (big brother) viewers like people who self-disclose early but prefer those who do it gradually (mirrors real life)
+ if formed over the internet they have high self-disclosure and attraction compared to irl because people feel more anonymous and comfortable, ‘boom or bust’ theory says people disclose earlier on the internet so relationship can get v intense (boom) and hard to sustain if moving to quickly (bust)
negative evaluation of self-disclosure (2)
- unlikely that attraction is just reliant on self-disclosure alone, other factors are needed such as physical attraction, similarity etc.
- most important factor is the amount of self-disclosure a person receives rather than gives as this is the best predicator of liking and this goes against reciprocal self-disclosure and focusses on info that people receive
describe Sprecher’s research study on self-disclosure
- see if reciprocal or one-sided self-disclosure was more important in determining attraction
- 156 american undergrads put into pairs (66%=ff, 33%=fm)
- engaged in the self-disclosure task on Skype
- group 1= reciprocal so took turns asking questions and answering
- group 2= non-reciprocal so one person asked and the other answered and then they switched
- then assessed on range of factors about the interaction (liking, closeness, perceived similarity, enjoyment)
describe the results from Sprecher’s research study on self-disclosure
- reciprocal self-disclosure leads to more liking, closeness, perceived similarity and enjoyment
- very important in terms of attraction and positive formation of relationships
positive evaluation of Sprecher’s research (1)
+ supported by reciprocal self-disclosure theory by Altman and Taylor as it seems self-disclosure is only successful when 2 people self-disclose equally. Also supported by equity theory which says successful relationships are fair and equal
negative evaluation of Sprecher’s research (3)
- measured using Skype not face-to-face communication like a real date so argued that it may distort/interfere with quality of self-disclosure so study can lack validity
- only conducted in America so doesn’t have cross cultural validity, might differ in collectivist cultures so have to be wary when generalising results
- doesn’t investigate male-male so gender comparisons can’t be made to see if real differences exist, biased sample so could have been split equally between ff, mm, mf to give a broader view
