self disclosure

Question 1

AO1 self disclosure

Answer 1

• Self-disclosure means revealing personal information about yourself.
• Psychologists believe that in successful relationships, partners are careful with the pace at which they reveal personal information.
• At first, they reveal relatively little personal information, but this increases more and more over time as we build trust and want the relationship to progress.
• It is a RECIPROCAL process; the relationship is only successful if both partners are equally willing to self-disclose.
• It is vital that disclosure is reciprocal. Once one partner discloses something difficult, it is important that the other partner responds appropriately, with empathy, respect, and an equally difficult personal disclosure.
• Commitment is directly correlated with reciprocal self-disclosure (i.e. relationships will be successful if both partners reciprocally self-disclose over time).
• According to psychologists, self-disclosure has two elements- both breadth and depth:
• At the outset of a relationship, breadth of information is narrow because lots of topics are usually off limits (ex-partners, difficult or upsetting experiences)
• We stick to “safe”, superficial disclosures (our job, what we are studying, favourite hobbies).
• Revealing too much too early can threaten the relationship.
• However, as a relationship develops and trust builds we disclose more complicated feelings- making the relationships stronger.
• The correct pace and style of self-disclosure seems to have become an implicit social norm.

Question 2

A03- Research Support
- Sprecher and Hendrick
- Sprecher
- Laurencau
- Hass and Stafford

Answer 2

• Sprecher and Hendrick (2004) found direct support for this theory.
• They surveyed heterosexual couples and found a strong positive correlation between the amount of self-disclosure occurring in a relationship and reported satisfaction in that relationship.
• Sprecher (2013) surveyed 50 heterosexual couples and found that the amount of overall self-disclosure in the relationship was predictive of whether the couple stayed together long-term.
• Laurencau (2005) asked pps in long-term marriages to write daily diary entries involving disclosure and intimacy.
• It was found that self-disclosure in each partner was positively correlated with levels of intimacy.
• Furthermore, less intimate couples rarely engaged in self-disclosure.
• These studies suggest that we can have confidence in the validity of the theory.
• Furthermore, research investigating the strength of the theory by Hass and Stafford (1998) with gay and lesbian pps totally supported the theory- honest self-disclosure correlating with the most committed relationships.

Question 3

AO3 implications

Answer 3

• This would explain why couples counselling is so successful in saving long-term relationships from break down.
• The extensive self-disclosure that partners work towards during the course of therapy would explain why it is so valuable in preventing marriage/relationship breakdown.

Question 4

AO3 issues - culture (Tang)

Answer 4

• Cross-cultural research by Tang (2013) highlights that self-disclosure theory may be culturally biased.
• Researchers found that there were cultural variations in willingness to disclose certain types of information- particularly those relating to sexual intimacy/history.
• Partners from Western cultures tend to disclose freely of such information, but it is rarely shared in collectivist cultures like China. This is a limitation of the theory. → may only be appropriate in western cultures