Self-Disclosure

Self-Disclosure

Self-Disclosure is one of the most popular topics in psychology and interpersonal communications. It refers to how willing people are to discuss information related to themselves with other people. Self-disclosure is also one of the most important factors affecting the quality of close relationships. It influences both the initiation and maintenance of relationships. Self-disclosure has been studied in romantic relationships, same-sex friendships, and cross-sex friendships. In this paper I discussed about my personal Self-Disclosure with my three relations and I also explain why the disclosure is different in all of them.

From my personal perspective friendships and romantic relationships have similarities in some characteristics and differences in others. For example my husband and my friends relations are totally differ. I found that both relationships shared Viability (i.e., acceptance, respect, trust, etc.), Spontaneity (i.e., to feel free to be themselves), Success, and Intimacy (i.e., sharing own experiences). On the other hand, I found that in romantic relationships, scores were significantly higher for Passion (i.e., exclusiveness, fascination, etc.), Mutual Love, and Support (i.e., mutual assistance, giving the utmost, etc.), whereas among best friends, scores were significantly higher for Stability.

I believe that self-disclosure seems to be one of the most important qualities in my close relationships. The level of self-disclosure is related not only to the length of relationships but also to relationship satisfaction. Among me and my husband the summed self-disclosure score for a couple was a significant predictor of marital satisfaction. Self-disclosure is also related to friendship strength among me and my friend. I found significant positive correlations were found between me and my friend liking and both of us own self-disclosure.

I also believe that Self-disclosure, or how much of your inner person you decide to share with another, is a risky, yet necessary, part of building and maintaining healthy relationships. ...