Speaking without seeing, or the effect of interviewer absence on interviewee disclosure time

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Communication Studies

Background:

• Face-to-face interviews can inhibit disclosure, particularly for sensitive topics.
• Previous research suggests interviewer absence may increase response time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To confirm that interviewer absence enhances disclosure time for intimate questions.
• To investigate if this effect is due to increased speaking time or pauses.
• To examine the influence of question intimacy level in a gender-balanced design.

Main Methods:

• Participants were surveyed regarding intimate questions.
• Speaking time and pausing time were analyzed separately.
• Question intimacy and gender were manipulated.

Main Results:

• Eliminating face-to-face interaction significantly increased disclosure time for intimate questions.
• The facilitating effect was attributed to increased speaking time, not just pauses.
• Findings were consistent across different intimacy levels and genders.

Conclusions:

• Interviewer absence is a robust method for enhancing disclosure time, especially for sensitive topics.
• This effect is independent of response latencies, highlighting genuine increases in content sharing.
• Future research can leverage this finding to improve data collection in sensitive areas.