Self-Disclosure: A Study of Verbal and Coverbal Intimacy

This study investigated the relationship between intimacy of verbal self-disclosure and the use of coverbal behaviors, specifically eye contact duration and eye contact frequency, during relatively unstructured conversations. On the basis of Argyle and Dean's social equilibrium theory, it was predicted that verbal intimacy and coverbal intimacy would vary conversely in conversational interaction. The method employed here emphasized a careful study of the behavior of 10 male undergraduates who conversed in dyads, and focused on the coverbal behavior associated with high and low disclosing time segments. The results supported the hypothesis for the eye contact duration parameter and demonstrated the utility of the method.