Trusting strangers: The benefits of reciprocal self-disclosure during online computer-mediated communication and mediating role of interpersonal liking

Reciprocal self-disclosure has reportedly been associated with increased interpersonal trust. However, existing research mainly focuses on online disclosure between acquaintances and overlooks the types of reciprocal disclosure, especially in the initial interactions between strangers communicating online. This study aimed to investigate how three types of reciprocal self-disclosure (turn-taking reciprocity, extended reciprocity and non-reciprocity) contribute to trust and the mechanism of positive interpersonal liking, and whether any effect was instant and stable or increased across two interactions during computer-mediated communication (CMC). Participants were assigned to one of the three reciprocal disclosure conditions and engaged in online interactions. Self-reported and behavioural results demonstrated higher levels of interpersonal trust and liking in the second interaction phase than in the first across all conditions. The turn-taking reciprocity condition showed higher interpersonal trust than did the extended condition, and higher interpersonal liking than did the extended and non-reciprocity conditions; this effect was apparent in both interactions. These findings help us understand the relationship between online self-disclosure and interpersonal trust, suggesting that certain patterns of communication with strangers (e.g., turn-taking reciprocity) may foster more positive social outcomes during CMC over time, while demonstrating the importance of immediacy in synchronous conversations.     

Reciprocity of Dyadic Trust in Close Male-Female Relationships

Abstract

A nonrecursive structural model specified 11 effects on trust in one's partner for 20 engaged, 67 married, and 11 divorced male-female dyads. According to the model, trust between partners is a reciprocally reinforced outcome, and 10 exogenous variables affect trust. The results showed that, for both sexes, there was a reciprocal effect for trust in one's partner, the perception of a partner's desire to control others had a negative effect on trust, and self-esteem had a positive effect on trust. Marital status and the perception of a partner's desire to be controlled had no effect on men's trust in their partners but highly significant negative effects on women's trust in their partners.     

Is self disclosure by a physically handicapped proband reciprocated by the interaction partner? An experimental study of the effect of physical handicap on interaction behavior with non-handicapped interaction partners

An experimental study tested whether an able-bodied person's positive disposition toward a disabled interaction partner was effective in the amount of reciprocation given to the disabled partner's self-disclosure. Sixty female subjects were confronted with either a disabled or nondisabled conversation partner who showed either a high or a low amount of self-disclosure. We anticipated that a "sympathy" effect of disablement in the amount of the subjects' self-disclosure would result from the nondisabled partner's overcompensation. This arises from an effort to compensate the negative, stereotyped attitudes to the disabled in actual behavior toward a single, disabled person by more strongly reciprocating the self-disclosure of a disabled interaction partner compared to a nondisabled one. Results showed that, contrary to expectations, self-disclosure was equally reciprocated with both a disabled and a nondisabled partner. However, a "sympathy" effect was found in the impression judgments on the disabled partner who had shown a high amount of self-disclosure in the previous conversation. The lack of a "sympathy" effect in the amount of self-disclosure was possibly the result of (1) the reciprocation of self-disclosure not being exclusively determined by intentional control processes; and/or (2) the evaluative significance of the amount of self-disclosure not being clear to the subjects in the interaction studied. It is concluded that the efforts of the nondisabled to show an unprejudiced attitude toward a disabled interaction partner are mostly effective in other aspects of behavior than the amount of self-disclosure.     

Predictors of satisfaction in geographically close and long-distance relationships

In this study, the authors examined geographically close (GCRs) and long-distance (LDRs) romantic relationship satisfaction as explained by insecure attachment, self-disclosure, gossip, and idealization. After college student participants (N = 536) completed a Web survey, structural equation modeling (SEM) multigroup analysis revealed that the GCR and LDR models were nonequivalent, as expected. Self-disclosure mediated the insecure attachment-idealization path differently in GCRs and in LDRs. Self-disclosure was positively associated with idealization in GCRs and negatively associated with idealization in LDRs, with the insecure attachment-idealization and the insecure attachment-satisfaction paths negative for both GCRs and LDRs. Furthermore, the insecure attachment-idealization path was stronger than the mediated path, especially for LDRs; the insecure attachment-satisfaction path was stronger than the mediation model for GCRs and LDRs. In other words, the GCR and LDR models differed despite some similarities. For both, with higher insecure (i.e., anxious and avoidant) attachment, the person discloses less to the partner, idealizes the partner less, and is less satisfied with the relationship. Also, people who idealize are more satisfied. In contrast, in LDRs only, with higher insecure attachment, the people tend to gossip more. With higher insecure attachment and with higher self-disclosure, people idealize more in GCRs but idealize less in LDRs. Overall, attachment insecurity explained more idealization and satisfaction in LDRs than in GCRs. Implications are discussed.     

Aggression toward female partners by at-risk young men: the contribution of male adolescent friendships

Deviancy training was examined as a risk factor for physical and psychological aggression toward a female partner among boys and young men in the Oregon Youth Study. Hostile talk about women during videotaped male friendship interactions was hypothesized to indicate a process by which aggression toward women is reinforced within male peer networks. Both antisocial behavior and hostile talk were predicted to be associated with later aggression toward a female partner. Prospective developmental models were tested from 9-10 years of age through young adulthood. Findings indicated that the relation of deviant peer association in adolescence and later aggression toward a partner was mediated by antisocial behavior; observed hostile talk about women with male peers explained additional variance in aggression toward a partner.     

Adolescents' sexual self-disclosure on the internet: deindividuation and impression management

This study examined the effect of anonymity on adolescents' sexual self-disclosure on the Internet and the impact of topic intimacy on their reply intent for sexual disclosure by conducting a survey with 1,347 adolescents. It was found that male participants were more likely than females to engage in sexual self-disclosure and to correspondingly respond to cyber partners' sexual disclosure. Results showed that the greater the anonymity, the greater the intent for sexual self-disclosure. Participants exhibited greater reply intent when cyber partners self-disclosed sexual topics with greater intimacy, and the effect of topic intimacy was more pronounced in male participants. The findings suggest that male adolescents tend to adopt a reciprocal strategy in responding to partners' sexual disclosure on the Internet, whereas females tend to employ a conservative strategy. It was concluded that male and female adolescents revealed differential self-presentation and impression management for their sexual self-disclosing and responding on the Internet.     

Childhood and Adolescent Victimization and Perpetration of Sexual Coercion by Male and Female University Students

This study examines the extent to which male and female university students use verbal sexual coercion and physically forced sex on a dating partner and tests a theoretical model that specifies that corporal punishment, minor forms of neglect by parents, and sexual abuse increase the probability of sexually coercing and sexually assaulting a partner, and that this relationship is partly mediated by antisocial traits and behavior. A path analysis using multinomial logistic regression was used to test the fit of the model to a convenience sample of 13,877 students in 32 nations. Both male and female students perpetrate sexual coercion, but the rates are higher for males. For both men and women, each of the three forms of prior victimization studied were associated with an increased probability of antisocial behavior, which in turn was associated with an increased probability of verbally coercing and physically forcing sex. Most of the direct paths from victimization to sexual coercion were also statistically significant. Because relatively mild victimization such as corporal punishment and seemingly innocuous forms of neglect are highly prevalent, steps to reduce their prevalence could be an import step in primary prevention of sexual coercion.     

The reciprocal cycle of self‐concealment and trust in romantic relationships

We propose that perceived partner concealment, self‐concealment from one's partner (i.e., keeping secrets from one's partner), and trust in one's partner form a reciprocal cycle in romantic relationships. In Study 1, participants in a romantic relationship (N = 94) completed a two‐time point survey within a span of 8 to 10 weeks. Results revealed that perceived partner concealment was associated with a loss of trust in partner, and low trust in partner was associated with an increase in self‐concealment from one's partner. Furthermore, the association between perceived partner concealment and self‐concealment from one's partner was mediated by trust. In Study 2, couples (N = 50) completed daily records for 14 consecutive days. Multilevel analyses indicated that on the days the individuals reported more self‐concealment, their partners reported lower trust in them. Moreover, on the days the partners reported lower trust, the partners also reported higher self‐concealment. These findings suggest that self‐concealment in romantic relationships can create a reciprocal cycle that involves loss of trust and more self‐concealment between partners, which would slowly deteriorate the relationship well‐being. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-disclosure: Intimate and nonintimate disclosures to parents and best friends as a function of bem sex-role category

Thirty-two androgynous, traditional, and undifferentiated males and females (N/it=192) completed a 6-item self-disclosure questionnaire containing 30 intimate and 30 nonintimate items. The targets were father, mother, and best male and female friends. Analyses of both intimate and nonintimate items indicated that amount of self-disclosure was related to sex role and not gender. Typical male-female differences in self-disclosure were not found because (a) androgynous males disclosed at significantly higher levels than traditional and undifferentiated males to most targets; (b) undifferentiated males and females disclosed significantly less than their androgynous and traditional counterparts. Intimate self-disclosure by androgynous males to father, and nonintimate disclosure by androgynous females to father, were particularly high. Both findings suggest a unique role for fathers in the development of androgynous persons. Androgynous females reported higher disclosure to best male friend than to mother. This is counter to the traditional female pattern and is interpreted as representing a greater degree of distancing from mother and openness to peers.The order of the authors' names was randomly determined. Both contributed equally.     

Degree and reciprocity of self-disclosure in online forums.

Cyberspace has become a common social environment in which people interact and operate in many ways. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the occurrence and reciprocity of self-disclosure, two subjects that are extensively studied in face-to-face interactions but only to a limited degree in virtual, computer-mediated, textual communication. Data was based on 240 first messages in a thread, sampled in equal numbers from six Internet forums (three discussion and three support groups), and written in equal numbers by each gender, and 240 first responses to them (a total of 480 forum messages). Trained, expert judges blindly rated each message on the degree to which it disclosed personal information, thoughts, and feelings. Linguistic parameters (total number of words and number of first-voice words) were also used as dependent variables. Results showed the following: (a) self-disclosure in support forums was much higher than in discussion forums, in terms of both total number and type of disclosure; (b) messages in support forums were longer and included more first-voice words than in discussion forums; (c) there were no gender differences interacting with level of self-disclosure; (d) reciprocity of self-disclosure was evident, yielding positive correlations between the measures of self-disclosure in messages and responses to them; (e) some differences appeared in level of reciprocity of self-disclosure between male and female participants, with female respondents tending to be more reciprocal than male respondents. The implications of these results are discussed in light of growing social interactions online, and possible applications are suggested.     

The association of childhood trauma with perceptions of self and the partner in adult romantic relationships

In this study, the association of childhood trauma with perceptions of self and the partner was explored. Using a large sample of more than 5,400 couples who completed the RELATE inventory, couples in which neither partner experienced childhood physical abuse were compared on personality and communication scales with couples where only the female experienced abuse, only the male experienced abuse, and both partners experienced abuse. The primary question of interest was to evaluate whether childhood trauma was associated with selection effects of romantic partners, perceptual effects of partners, or reciprocal negativity with partners. The evidence from the analysis of variance and path analysis indicates that trauma is more likely to be associated with perceptual effects than selection effects. Individuals who were traumatized rated both themselves and their partners as more neurotic and conflictual, even when controlling for overall levels of relationship satisfaction. However, the partners of traumatized persons do not consider themselves more neurotic or conflictual than partners in relationships where neither partner was abused.     

大学生自我表露的调查研究

了解大学生的自我表露状况。应用自我表露问卷对大一至硕士研究生424名学生进行团体施测。结果表明,大学生对不同目标人、在不同表露问题上,自我表露的程度存在性别、年级差异:(1)女生比男生的表露程度高;(2)女生对女性的表露最高,男生对男性的表露中等,异性间的表露最低;(3)高年级的表露多于低年级的表露;(4)研究生对男女朋友的表露多于对父母的表露;(5)在学习、兴趣、观点等方面的表露程度高于在个性、身体和金钱等方面的表露。     

Social support and college student contraceptive use

Sources of social support for contraceptive use were examined in a survey of 280 sexually active college students (132 female and 148 male) aged 17-23 years. Variables measured were contraceptive use at last intercourse, perceived social support for contraceptive use, and motivation to comply with these sources of support. Friends and partners were identified as equally supportive, but only partner support was related to contraceptive use. Among nonusers of an effective method, best friend support exceeded partner support. Finally, students reported more motivation to comply with their partners than with friends or parents. Men were even less likely to comply with support provided by a best friend than women. The finding that parental support was not an important factor suggests that contraceptive use is best promoted through the self-disclosure and open discussion young adults enjoy with peers. Moreover, a desire to please one's sexual partner seems to outweigh advice provided by a best friend. Thus, contraceptive promotion among young adults should be targeted not only at potential users, but also at sexual partners. The potential of such an approach is demonstrated by this study's finding that young men were willing to use condoms when encouraged by their partner, despite widespread dislike of this method.     

Gender and the prerogatives of dating and marriage: An experimental assessment of a sample of college students

Experimental data were used to study the amount of support men and women have to pursue nonsexual and sexual activities without their partner in the contexts of dating and marriage. Attention was also focused on whether a partner's independent behavior would be seen as less acceptable in marriage than in dating. The results showed that marriage did reduce a partner's right to engage in outside involvements. However, only males saw marriage as more restrictive than dating. Moreover, these restrictions were not directed at women primarily, but were directed at both male and female target persons. Where differences were found between male and female prerogatives in marriage and dating, they appeared to favor females, providing evidence that among college students some of the structures associated with intimate relationships supported women's interests over men's.Thanks go to Barry Markovsky and Lorraine Dorfman for their helpful comments.     

Signaling when (and when not) to be cautious and self-protective: impulsive and reflective trust in close relationships

A dual process model is proposed to explain how automatic evaluative associations to the partner (i.e., impulsive trust) and deliberative expectations of partner caring (i.e., reflective trust) interact to govern self-protection in romantic relationships. Experimental and correlational studies of dating and marital relationships supported the model. Subliminally conditioning more positive evaluative associations to the partner increased confidence in the partner's caring, suggesting that trust has an impulsive basis. Being high on impulsive trust (i.e., more positive evaluative associations to the partner on the Implicit Association Test; Zayas & Shoda, 2005) also reduced the automatic inclination to distance in response to doubts about the partner's trustworthiness. It similarly reduced self-protective behavioral reactions to these reflective trust concerns. The studies further revealed that the effects of impulsive trust depend on working memory capacity: Being high on impulsive trust inoculated against reflective trust concerns for people low on working memory capacity.     

Effects of (un)employment on young couples’ health and life satisfaction

This study investigated effects of employed and unemployed job status on health outcomes with questionnaires in 50 young couples. Analysis of variance revealed higher pessimism, higher stress levels, and lower life satisfaction in couples in which one partner was unemployed. These couples also exhibited more health risk behaviours compared to couples in which both partners were working. The dyadic analysis of data, using an actor–partner interdependence model, demonstrated strong actor and partner effects for male partner's job status. Being unemployed was significantly associated not only with male partner's life satisfaction but also with the life satisfaction of his female partner. In addition, male partner's pessimism was identified as a significant variable which mediates between male partner's job status and female partner's life satisfaction. The study highlights the relevance of the accomplishment of tasks in the domains of work and partnership during young adulthood and it emphasises the gender specific importance.     

The Effects of Perceived Dysfunctional Family-of-Origin Rules on the Dating Relationships of Young Adults

This study examined the effects of perceived dysfunctional family-of-origin rules on the dating relationships of young adult offspring. A sample of 322 students from three universities completed self-report questionnaires measuring dysfunctional family-of-origin rules, current dating behaviors, dating anxiety, relationship satisfaction and commitment. The results indicated that dysfunctional family-of-origin rules were positively related to dating anxiety, and negatively related to advancement in dating stages, relationship satisfaction, and commitment in the dating relationships of young adults. There also was a tendency for young adults from families with dysfunctional rules to date later and less frequently than young adults from families with more functional rules, although they dated about the same number of partners. Implications for future research and clinical interventions are discussed.     

Personality goes a long way: The malleability of opposite‐sex physical attractiveness

This study tested the influence of personality information on judgments of physical attractiveness. Employing a within‐subject design, 56 female and 22 male college students rated attractiveness of opposite‐sex photos; participated in a distraction task; viewed each photo again, along with personality information (desirable, undesirable, none); and then rated the photos for physical attractiveness, desirability as a friend, and desirability as a dating partner. Personality information produced significant changes in ratings of physical attractiveness for attractive, neutral, and unattractive targets. The pattern of results is consistent with a model in which desirability of the target’s personality leads to greater desirability as a friend, leading to greater desirability as a dating partner, leading to the target being judged as more physically attractive.