When are dysphoric individuals distressing to others and vice versa? Effects of friendship, similarity, and interaction task.

Examined several factors hypothesized to affect how dysphoric and nondysphoric individuals react to each other. 92 pairs of female college students participated in the study. Ss interacted with either a friend or stranger who had a similar or dissimilar dysphoria status in 3 tasks: a casual conversation, disclosure of a personal problem to the partner, and response to the partner's disclosure of a personal problem. Ss' moods, evaluations of their partners, and verbal behaviors were assessed. Dysphoric Ss exhibited characteristic negative mood and verbal content but did not elicit negative reactions from their partners. Negative reactions were most evident in dysphoric Ss' responses to dissimilar (nondysphoric) strangers, underscoring the need for greater attention to dysphoric individuals' perspective on their social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Openers: Individuals who elicit intimate self-disclosure.

Presents an "Opener Scale" that measures the tendency to elicit intimate disclosure from others. Data from 740 undergraduates provided evidence for the scale's validity and reliability. In a face-to-face dyadic interaction between strangers in a laboratory study, 55 undergraduate women who scored either high or low on the Opener Scale were paired with other women who scored either high or low on a self-disclosure index. Low disclosers revealed more to high openers than to low openers. However, high disclosers were equally intimate with both types of partner. In a field study with 54 sorority women, acquaintances and friends were more willing to disclose to high openers than to low openers. High openers were more liked than low openers in the latter study only. It is suggested that high openers were able to elicit more disclosure because of their greater receptiveness and attentiveness and use of more follow-up questions. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Agreement among judges of personality: Interpersonal relations, similarity, and acquaintanceship.

Personality judgments of 184 targets were provided by the self, college acquaintances, hometown acquaintances, parents, and strangers. Study 1 found that knowing the target in the same context enhanced but was not necessary for interjudge agreement and that acquaintances who had never met agreed with each other as well as those who had met. Study 2 found that personality judgments by acquaintances manifested much better interjudge and self–other agreement than did judgments by strangers. Acquaintances were not more similar to their targets than were strangers, and their accuracy derived more from their distinctive judgment of the target than from assumed similarity. These results rule out overlap, communication, and assumed similarity as necessary bases of interjudge agreement and thereby support the simpler hypothesis that interjudge agreement stems from mutual accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety and self-disclosure: Toward a motivational model.

The self-disclosures of socially anxious and nonanxious Ss were compared within the framework of R. M. Arkin's (1981) motivational theory of social anxiety. Ss (N?=?84 women) were paired with a confederate who disclosed at either a high or a low level of intimacy (i.e., the classic reciprocity paradigm). Consistent with Arkin's theory, anxious Ss were concerned with self-protection during the task and disclosed at a moderate level of intimacy regardless of their partner's behavior. In addition, anxious Ss did not reciprocate their partners' disclosures as well as did nonanxious Ss. The self-protective behaviors of the anxious Ss were associated with less liking and more discomfort on the part of their partners. This suggests that the adoption of self-protective strategies may elicit negative interpersonal reactions that maintain self-defeating interpersonal patterns in socially anxious people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment style and relationship satisfaction: Test of a self-disclosure explanation.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 30(2) of Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement (see record 2009-19933-001). Some figures were inadvertently omitted in two tables. The correct tables are provided in the erratum.] Explored a self-disclosure explanation for why those with a secure attachment style report greater relationship satisfaction than those with insecure attachment styles. Ss were 99 17–36 yr old students who were in ongoing relationships and who had different attachment styles. Ss were compared in terms of the self-disclosures they directed toward their partner vs a stranger, using questionnaire and behavioural measures. Behavioural self-disclosure was assessed by having Ss give talks on different topics, while anticipating that either their current partner or an opposite-sex stranger would later hear it. Results show that Ss with a secure attachment style disclosed more intimately to their partners than to strangers; whereas those with insecure attachment styles did not. Moreover, secures disclosed more personal facts to their partners than to strangers and were also perceived as more comfortable while self-disclosing to partners than to strangers. Finally, support for the hypothesis that self-disclosure mediates the relation between attachment style and relationship satisfaction was found on one component of self-disclosure, facilitative disclosure, a component which included both reported self-disclosure to one's partner and self-rated ability to elicit disclosure from others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of intimacy in couples' discussions of relationship injuries: An observational study.

The interpersonal process model of intimacy (H. T. Reis & P. Shaver, 1988) proposes that self-disclosure and empathic responding form the basis of intimate interactions. This study examined this model in 102 community couples who completed intimacy measures following videotaped discussions about relationship injuries occurring both within and outside the relationship. Observational assessments of self-disclosure and empathic responding, as well as their respective components, were related to self-reported ratings of post-interaction intimacy. Men's own disclosure and empathic responding predicted their feelings of intimacy, whereas women's intimacy was predicted by their partner's disclosure and empathic responding. Self-disclosure and empathic responding appear to be important behavioral determinants of intimate feelings, but the manner in which they influence intimacy differs according to gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Attachment style and relationship satisfaction: Test of a self-disclosure explanation": Erratum.

Reports an error in "Attachment style and relationship satisfaction: Test of a self-disclosure explanation" by J. Patrick R. Keelan, Karen K. Dion and Kenneth L. Dion (Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 1998[Jan], Vol 30[1], 24-35). Some figures were inadvertently omitted in two tables. The correct tables are provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1998-01141-003.) Explored a self-disclosure explanation for why those with a secure attachment style report greater relationship satisfaction than those with insecure attachment styles. Ss were 99 17–36 yr old students who were in ongoing relationships and who had different attachment styles. Ss were compared in terms of the self-disclosures they directed toward their partner vs a stranger, using questionnaire and behavioural measures. Behavioural self-disclosure was assessed by having Ss give talks on different topics, while anticipating that either their current partner or an opposite-sex stranger would later hear it. Results show that Ss with a secure attachment style disclosed more intimately to their partners than to strangers; whereas those with insecure attachment styles did not. Moreover, secures disclosed more personal facts to their partners than to strangers and were also perceived as more comfortable while self-disclosing to partners than to strangers. Finally, support for the hypothesis that self-disclosure mediates the relation between attachment style and relationship satisfaction was found on one component of self-disclosure, facilitative disclosure, a component which included both reported self-disclosure to one's partner and self-rated ability to elicit disclosure from others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Allocentrism and Friendship Satisfaction: The Mediating Roles of Disclosure and Closeness.

Based on interdependence theory and the interpersonal process model of intimacy, individuals' personal attributes, perceptions, cognitions, and affect should influence relationship expectations. Self-disclosure is one form of behavioural interdependence and includes perceptions of the partner's disclosure. These behaviours (own disclosure) and perceptions (perceived partner's disclosure) should impact cognitions about the self and partner (cognitive closeness) and affect about the relationship (satisfaction). Personal attributes also determine how people react. Allocentrism, one personal attribute, refers to an individual's orientation involving emotional ties and dependence on others. A study involving cross-sex friendships tested whether allocentrism predicted own disclosure, own disclosure predicted perceived friend's disclosure, which predicted closeness, and finally closeness predicted satisfaction. A series of hierarchical regressions supported these relations and accounted for 23% of the variance in satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When modesty prevails: Differential favorability of self-presentation to friends and strangers.

Although most interpersonal interactions take place between people who know each other, most self-presentation research has focused on self-presentation to strangers. Five studies showed that self-presentational favorability differed as a function of whether the interaction partner was a friend or a stranger. Studies 1 and 2 found that self-presentations to friends were consistently more modest than self-presentations to strangers. In Studies 3 and 4, self-presentations were manipulated by instructing participants to present themselves in either a self-enhancing or modest manner. Modesty with strangers and self-enhancement with friends both resulted in impaired recall for the interaction, consistent with the view that those strategies contradict familiar, overlearned patterns. Study 5 distinguished self-deprecation from modesty. Taken together, the results indicate that people habitually use different self-presentation strategies with different audiences, relying on favorable self-enhancement with strangers but shifting toward modesty when among friends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Putting the Partner Within Reach: A Dyadic Perspective on Felt Security in Close Relationships.

The authors argue that felt insecurity in a partner's positive regard and caring stems from a specifically dyadic perception--the perception that a partner is out of one's league. A cross-sectional sample of dating couples revealed that people with low self-esteem feel inferior to their partner and that such feelings of relative inferiority undermine felt security in the partner's regard. Three experiments examined the consequences of reducing such perceived discrepancies by pointing to either strengths in the self or flaws in the partner. Low, but not high, self-esteem participants reacted to new strengths in the self or faults in the partner by reporting greater felt security in their specific partner's positive regard and commitment and more positive, general feelings about their own interpersonal worth. Thus, putting the partner more within the psychological grasp of low self-esteem people may effectively increase felt security in the partner's regard. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical assault in New Zealand: the experience of 21 year old men and women in a community sample

AIM: To obtain epidemiological information on physical assault in a high risk group of New Zealanders. METHOD: Rates of physical assault in the preceding twelve months were ascertained by interview in a cohort of 21 year old, Dunedin-born men (n = 482) and women (n = 462). RESULTS: Forty-five percent of the men and one quarter of the women reported at least one physical assault, either completed, attempted or threatened. A small proportion of these received medical treatment. Most serious assaults were by a perpetrator who was thought to have been drinking alcohol. Most assaults on men were by strangers but partners carried out more assaults against women, especially those receiving medical treatment. One quarter of all assaults on women were by other women, compared to 15% of the assaults on men. Differences between patterns of assaults on women and on men are discussed. CONCLUSION: It is important for doctors to be aware of the widespread occurrence of interpersonal violence in New Zealand and its underreporting.     

Role of gender, interpersonal orientation, and self-presentation in distributive-justice behavior.

Tested hypotheses derived from 3 explanations of the consistent differences in the ways men and women allocate rewards between themselves and others. 71 male and 71 female introductory psychology students who had scored either high or low on an Interpersonal Orientation (IO) Scale allocated monetary rewards between themselves and a same-sex partner with inferior performance. Allocations were either public or private, and future interaction with the partner either was or was not expected. Contrary to the IO explanation, women allocated rewards more equally than men did despite the fact that men and women were equivalent in their degree of interpersonal orientation. High-IO individuals allocated rewards more equally than did low-IO individuals but only in private. Contrary to the self-presentational explanation, both women and men allocated rewards more equally when allocations were public than when they were private and when future interaction was expected than when it was not. Contrary to the cognitive explanation, few gender differences in performance expectations, evaluations, or attributions were observed, and these factors were unrelated to reward allocations. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of another person's response style on interpersonal behavior in depression.

30 depressed and 30 nondepressed undergraduate women, assigned to categories on the basis of their scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and a short form of the MMPI, interacted with experimental accomplices who played various interpersonal roles during a laboratory procedure involving "cooperative problem-solving." The roles enacted were critical–competitive, supportive–cooperative, and helpless–dependent. Ss' conversational behaviors, written communications, and postencounter evaluations were analyzed as a function of the personal style portrayed by the accomplice. Results indicate that depressed Ss communicated relatively high levels of self-devaluation, sadness, helplessness, and general negative content to all accomplice roles. The critical–competitive role elicited greater extrapunitiveness among depressives than normal Ss and the helpless–dependent role elicited a greater number of negative self-statements among depressives than normal Ss. Findings are discussed in relation to interactional concepts of depressives' social functioning. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuroticism and disclosure reciprocity.

32 college males with either normal or neurotic MMPI profiles participated in a dyadic interaction via telephone with a confederate who disclosed at either a high or low level of intimacy. Following the confederate's disclosure, Ss disclosed as long and as intimately as they cared to. Ratings of Ss' disclosures revealed that (a) normal Ss exposed to a high-disclosing confederate spent significantly more time in intimate disclosure than those exposed to a low-disclosing confederate and (b) neurotic Ss spent very little time in intimate self-disclosure, regardless of the level of disclosure they received from a confederate. This failure of neurotic Ss to reciprocate highly intimate disclosure is examined via a model that views appropriate self-disclosure as requiring several intra- and interpersonal skills. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of the pleasantness and competence of a partner.

An experiment was conducted to test hypotheses derived from Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance concerning changes in the perception of a partner's pleasantness and competence following the discovery of unpleasant characteristics of the partner. College women who received information indicating their partner for a problem-solving task was very unpleasant rated her as less unpleasant than women who received identical information about someone who was not their partner. Those who received information indicating their partner was very unpleasant rated her as more competent than women who received information indicating their partner had fewer unpleasant characteristics. Whether they had chosen to work with the partner or were assigned had no significant effects on their ratings of her pleasantness or competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empathic accuracy in the interactions of male friends versus male strangers.

In unstructured interactions, male friends were found to be more accurate than male strangers in inferring each other's thoughts and feelings. Plausible reasons for this difference were that friends (1) interacted more and exchanged more information, (2) had more similar personalities and therefore more rapport with each other, and (3) had more detailed knowledge of each other's lives. Data confirmed that the friends did indeed interact more and were more similar in their sociability than the strangers; however, these differences did not account for the friends' greater empathic accuracy. Instead, this was primarily attributable to a difference in knowledge structures, namely, the friends' ability to accurately read their partners' thoughts and feelings about imagined events in another place or time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disability disclosure effects on employment interview ratings of applicants with nonvisible disabilities.

Objective: To investigate the effects of timing of verbal disclosure of a disability on employment interview ratings of applicants with nonvisible disabilities. Study Design: Participants (56 college students) viewed 2 videotaped employment interviews: 1 involving an applicant who disclosed a nonvisible disability (transverse myelitis), either early or late in the interview, and 1 with an applicant who did not disclose a disability. Outcome Measures: Qualifications/hiring, liking, and comfort with disability disclosure scales. Results: Applicants with nonvisible disabilities who chose to disclosure their disability were rated as more qualified and likeable when disclosing early in an interview. Conclusion: Individuals who wish to disclose an externally caused nonvisible disability (similar to transverse myelitis) should consider doing so early in an interview rather than at the end. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression, working models of others, and relationship functioning.

Two studies examined depressives' working models of others and the relative contribution of these models and depression to relationship functioning. Respondents reported on their childhood relationships, adult attachment style, and relationship functioning. Study 1 compared 163 mildly depressed and nondepressed college women (aged 17–48 yrs), and Study 2 compared 25 married women recovering from clinical depression with 23 nondepressed married women (mean age 40 yrs for both groups). Mildly depressed college women evidenced greater preoccupation and fearful avoidance in romantic relationships than did nondepressed women; recovering depressed women evidenced greater fearful avoidance. In both studies, relationship functioning was predicted more strongly by adult attachment style than by depression status. Among college women, positive experiences with mother also were linked to better relationship functioning; however, attachment style and depression status mediated this effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of reciprocity and self-monitoring on self-disclosure with a new acquaintance.

48 high- and 48 low-self-monitoring undergraduates, selected on the basis of their scores on the Self-Monitoring Scale, interacted with a confederate who self-disclosed at either a high or low level. These interactions were audio recorded in a setting lacking experimental demand to allow Ss to get acquainted. The effects of reciprocity and self-monitoring on self-disclosure were measured by ratings of audiotapes. Results show that, overall, the reciprocity phenomenon was operative, but in contrast to previous research, lower self-monitors reciprocated at the same level as their partner under conditions of both low and high disclosure, whereas high self-monitors self-disclosed at a high level regardless of their partner's disclosing behavior. This is explained by the tendency of high self-monitors to exhibit their consistent background self-presentation behavior of appearing outgoing, friendly, and extraverted in a natural acquaintance process. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The costs and benefits of sexism: Resistance to influence during relationship conflict.

This study tested whether men's and women's hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS) were associated with resistance to influence in couples' conflict interactions. Ninety-one heterosexual couples were recorded while trying to produce desired changes in each other. Participants reviewed their discussions and rated how open they were to their partner's perspective. Objective coders also rated the extent to which each partner exhibited hostile communication. We tested key principles arising from ambivalent sexism theory (Glick & Fiske, 1996). First, BS is necessary because mutual interdependence reduces the power of HS to influence women within intimate relationships. We found that the more men endorsed HS, the less open and more hostile both partners were, and the less successful their discussions were in producing desired change. Second, BS reduces the threat of women's dyadic power by revering and respecting women's interpersonal roles while restricting women's influence outside the relationship domain. We found that men who expressed higher agreement with BS were more open to their partners' influence and behaved with less hostility, and their discussions were more successful. These relationship benefits illustrate why BS is effective at disarming women's resistance to wider inequalities. These benefits, however, were contingent on men adopting BS attitudes. When women strongly endorsed BS but their male partner did not, women were less open, behaved with greater hostility, and perceived their discussions as less successful. These results indicate that, because BS increases the stakes within the relationship domain, women who endorse BS will react more negatively when their expectations are not realized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)