Self-disclosure A03

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  • Created by: Georgia56
  • Created on: 27-09-17 20:37

One strength to the self-disclosure principle is that there is supporting evidence from Sprencher and Hendrick. They studied heterosexual couples and found a correlation between the several measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure. The partners that self-disclosed and felt their partners self-disclosed as well felt more satisfied in their relationship and more committed. This shows that people feel more intimate to their partners once they have self-disclosed. It also shows how the self-disclosure should be reciprocal, as it was believed both partners were contributing personal information. However, this research is only a correlation, as with many of the supporting research. The fact that most of the supporting research is correlational, means that we cannot state that self-disclosure causes intimacy, only that they are linked. This means that, although it is assumed that self-disclosure creates more satisfaction, a correlation does not tell us if this is a valid conclusion to draw.

However, not all the supporting evidence is correlational. Aron carried out an experiment in which he provided a list of 36 questions to a pair of people. The first questions would give superficial information and as the questions progressed they would become more intimate. After all the questions were answered, the participants were asked to look at their partner for four minutes. He found after the experiment the partners felt closer to each other. This supports the self-disclosure principle because it shows how self-disclosure can create a sense of intimacy and love. It represents Altman and Taylor’s onion metaphor; as layers are gradually being revealed in a reciprocal way the relationship strengthens. This shows…

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