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Self-disclosure and liking: a meta-analytic review
1Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Buffalo 14260-4110.
Psychological Bulletin
|November 1, 1994
Summary
Self-disclosure, or sharing personal information, significantly impacts relationship development. People tend to like intimate disclosers more, disclose more to those they like, and like others more after disclosing to them.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Interpersonal Communication
Background:
- Self-disclosure is crucial for relationship formation and maintenance.
- Previous research has explored the connection between self-disclosure and liking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To clarify and review the literature on self-disclosure and liking.
- To evaluate evidence for three distinct disclosure-liking effects.
Main Methods:
- Meta-analytic procedures were used to synthesize existing research.
- The study examined the relationship between disclosure levels and liking.
Main Results:
- Significant positive relationships were found between self-disclosure and liking.
- Intimate disclosures led to greater liking.
- People disclosed more to those they initially liked.
- Disclosing to someone increased liking for that person.
- Study paradigm, disclosure type, and discloser gender moderated these effects.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest a dynamic interpersonal system where disclosure and liking mutually influence each other.
- Results support integrating various disclosure-liking effects.
- Implications for theory development and future research directions were discussed.