Factors Affecting Attraction: Self-Disclosure

Question 1

Self-Disclosure: Jourard (1971)

Answer 1

• revealing personal information about yourself
• romantic partners reveal more about themselves
• strengthens relationship and builds trust

Question 2

Social Penetration Theory

Answer 2

• Altman & Taylor: self-disclosure only goes as far as one half of the pair is willing to share
• if the other person is unwilling to self-disclose, this shows a lack of willing intimacy
• Revelations display trust: to go further, the partner must also reveal sensitive information
• we share what really matters to us

Question 3

Self-disclosure: breadth and depth

Answer 3

Breadth: low-risk information
Depth: high-risk information
As breadth and depth increase, so does commitment

Question 4

Norms of self-disclosure: Derlegaand & Grzelak

Answer 4

Norms for how much self-disclosure should occur and when
- be neither so personal that the disclosure appears indiscriminate
- nor so impersonal that the listener is unable to know the discloser better

Question 5

:) Research support: Collins & Miller (1994)

Answer 5

Meta-analysis
- people who engage in intimate disclosures tend to be liked more than people who disclose at lower levels
- disclosure and liking was stronger if the recipient believed that the disclosure was shared only with them

Question 8

:( “Boom and bust” Cooper and Sportolari

Answer 8

In virtual relationships, people reveal more intimate information about themselves earlier than they would in a face-to-face interaction, this leads to the relationship getting intense very quickly.
- however this happens without an underlying sense of trust, meaning that the relationship becomes difficult to sustain

Question 9

:) Self-disclosure may be greater in face-to-face than online relationships

Answer 9

• Knop et al (2016): members of a social group disclose personal information more often in face-to-face interactions may be due to a lack of information