Sex-role stereotyping and patterns of self-disclosure

Students enrolled in psychology courses completed a Bem Sex-Role Inventory and a self-disclosure scale. A three way ANOVA (sex by sex role by target of disclosure) was used to determine if androgynous subjects differed from stereotyped by not conforming to standard sex differences in: (a) pattern of targets disclosed to; (b) amount of intimate disclosure. Results indicated: (a) androgynous females reported a peers first profile, typical of males; (b) androgynous males reported more disclosure than stereotyped males, especially on intimate topics; (c) androgynous females reported more nonintimate discussions with their fathers; and (d) androgynous males reported the highest level of intimate disclosures to father. Sex role is a better predictor of reported self-disclosure than is sex.The order of the authors' names was randomly determined: Both contributed equally. Correspondence should be sent to either author at the following address: Department of Psychology, State University of New York, College at Cortland, Cortland, New York 13045.