NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
ERIC Number: ED161104
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1978-Nov
Pages: 27
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Self-Disclosure as a Relationship Disengagement Strategy: An Exploratory Investigation.
Baxter, Leslie A.
The willingness of interactants to disclose information about themselves in relationships from which they wish to disengage was compared with their willingness to self-disclose in relationships they wish to maintain. The subjects, 102 college students, were randomly assigned to one of four hypothetical scenarios: one in which the respondent wished to disengage from a relationship but the other person wished to maintain it; one in which both persons wished to disengage from the relationship; one in which both wished to maintain it; and one in which the respondent wished to maintain it and the other person wished to disengage from it. A 20-item questionnaire was then administered to assess respondents' degree of willingness to discuss topics of varying intimacy within the assigned scenarios. Analysis of the results indicated that willingness to self-disclose lessened as the respondent's relational intent shifted from maintenance to disengagement, that willingness to self-disclose did not change significantly with changing perceptions of the other person's relational intent, and that sex differences were not significant. Future research should be devoted to relationship disengagement as well as to the more frequently studied relationship initiation. (The four scenarios and the 20-item questionnaire are included.) (GW)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A