Perhaps no social process is any more important to the establishment and maintenance of satisfactory interpersonal relationships than self-disclosure. The principal aim of the proposed research is to identify the psychological underpinnings (mediators) of sex differences in self-disclosure among new acquaintances. In the vast majority of acquaintanceship studies conducted to date, females are found to be more open and intimate than males when self-disclosing to their associates. Yet, the few studies in which males are more self-disclosing than females share certain characteristics that suggest that the previous literature (1) overestimates the extent to which females are more self- disclosing than males, and (2) badly underestimates male subjects, proclivity for meaningful self-disclosure. A recent model stemming from preliminary research proposes that gender-linked variations in self-disclosure will change rather dramatically depending upon (1) whether or not new acquaintances anticipate future interaction with each other (unfortunately, most previous """"""""acquaintanceship"""""""" research focuses on individuals interacting for the first and only time), and (2) the purpose or """"""""context"""""""" of any anticipated future interaction. If the basis for future interaction is interpersonal in nature, so that communal motives are apt to be salient, females should disclose more intimately to their associates than will males. But, if the anticipated interaction is task-oriented, so that agenetic motives and performance-based concerns are more salient, then males should become at least as open and intimate with their partners as are females. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that females expecting such task-based future interaction will become less open and intimate with their acquaintances than they otherwise would be if they expected no future contact or additional social interaction with these persons. Six experiments are proposed to (1) test the above conceptual hypotheses and to identify the processes that underlie gender- linked variations in self-disclosure, (2) determine if sex-role orientation is a better predictor than gender per se of sex diFferences in self-disclosure in varying interactive contexts, (3) to systematically evaluate """"""""sex of target"""""""" effects or self- disclosure in communal contexts, and (4) test the hypotheses that """"""""openers"""""""" (i.e., people skilled at eliciting disclosures) are particularly successful at inducing males to open up in communal contexts and at convincing females to become more self-revealing in instrumental contexts.
| Shaffer, D R; Pegalis, L J (1998) Gender and situational context moderate the relationship between self-monitoring and induction of self-disclosure. J Pers 66:215-34 |
| Tesser, A; Shaffer, D R (1990) Attitudes and attitude change. Annu Rev Psychol 41:479-523 |
