- Self-disclosure: Revealing yourself to others
–Self disclosure, originally research by psychologist Sidney Jourard, occurs when we voluntarily provide information to others that they would not learn if we did not tell them.
- Reciprocity in Self-Disclosure
–Reciprocity: meaning that when we share information about ourselves with other persons, we expect them to share information that is similar in risk or depth about themselves.
- Appropriateness in Self-Disclosure
–Appropriateness: is another key variable related to self-disclosure.
-Certain kinds of information are inappropriate to disclose at an early stage, but appropriate at a later stage of relational development.
- Assessing the Risks of Self-Disclosure
-What is high self-disclosing for one person may be low self-disclosing for another.
-While the level of intimacy (or risk) in the information increases over time, the amount of disclosure tends to decrease as the relationship becomes more and more intimate.
-By revealing information to another person, you give that person a degree of power over you.
- Self-Disclosure, Intimacy, and Gender