Gender Effects in an Initial Encounter: A Case Where Men Exceed Women in Disclosure

Abstract

This research examined self-disclosure between all possible pairs of sex of discloser and sex of disclosure target. Assuming that socialization encourages women and men to play different roles, men were expected to take the initiative in comparison to women in the first encounter. Among acquaintances, males may exceed women in their disclosure of personal information in order to control the relationship's development. Results supported this prediction. Males disclosed more intimately than females to an opposite-sex partner whom they had just met. Males paired with a female also exceeded the level of disclosure intimacy for females paired with a female or males paired with a male. The intimacy of self-disclosure for males paired with a female (compared to females paired with a male) was more highly correlated with liking for the partner and with perceptions of the partner's positive feelings toward self. Being singled out as a disclosure target led subjects to infer that their partner liked them, but it did not lead to greater disclosure intimacy nor liking for the partner.