Self Disclosure Experiment

Everyone has a limit on how much self-disclosure they reveal, especially to an individual that is a stranger to them. However, self-disclosure becomes more reveling when that individual becomes more than a stranger and starts to feel comfortable with that person and someone whom they can trust. There were two experiments that took place in the study. The first experiment was based on the eye contact and self-disclosure of the experimenter and the subject. The second experiment was the effects of the experimenter’s self-disclosure. On both studies, the purpose was to see how much the subject will self-disclose and respond when the experimenter approach them in a variety of ways (Jourard & Friedman, 1970). The hypothesis for both experiments

was when there is a higher intimacy between the experimenter and the subject, the self-disclosure would decrease.
The hypothesis for both experiments were based on past research. The research that took part of this study was from the equilibrium theory by Argyle and Dean that demonstrated under what conditions compensation happens and under what conditions reciprocation happens. This study also used Jourard’s touching research and the reciprocation in self-disclosure by Drag and Powell. By utilizing these previous studies, the experimenter was able to demonstrate that as the experimenter revealed some self-disclosure, the subject would also, but in more depth. However, if the experimenter did not expose nothing about themselves, the subject would keep their disclosure to a minimum.
In the first experiment, there were 48 undergrad college students.

There were 24 males and 24 females. These college students were divided into three groups and were interviewed with a three degree distance. Each group had the same number of student and had the same proportion of males and females. Each group were asked different tasks. Group one had to disclose something about themselves in a tape recorder while the experimenter was not in the room. On second group, the subject had to self-disclose with the experimenter in the room, however there were no eye contact between the experimenter and the subject. The third group needed to self-disclose and the experimenter did provide eye contact with the subject. On all three groups, the experimenter did not self- disclose anything about himself. The independent variable for experiment one was the absence, presence and continuous of eye contact between the experimenter and the subject. The dependent variable was the time spent for the subject to self-disclose and the duration of the

self-disclosure.
The results of experiment one was that there were some differences between the self-disclosure between men and women. As the experiment was closer and provided eye contact, men minimized their disclosure but increased when the experimenter was in the room. For women, they increased their self-disclosure when the experimenter gave eye contact and decreased when they were in the room. For group one, both genders had a significant increase in self-disclosure. Group two had women decrease the self-disclosure, while men were increasing. The third group had men dropped and women to increase their self-disclosure. The time spent for self-disclosing for the three groups were that in women it was 1,000 seconds, 594 seconds, and 576 seconds. For men it was 1000 seconds, 1055 seconds, and 1155 seconds. Based on the results, the amount of eye contact can influence how much self-disclosure is revealed and it can also be a factor for gender.
The second experiment was conducted with 64 undergrad students, whom had 32 males and females.

These student were placed into four groups. In each group, they were asked to fill out what their impressions and feelings were of the experimenter and to answer eight questions. The subject had a choice to answer the questions while being interviewed by the experimenter. Each group had the same task, however in group one, the subject was the control who had to answer the questions. In group two, the subject would answer the question and the experimenter would touch the subjects back. The third group had to answer the questions, but the experimenter would reveal information about himself and self-disclose before the subject would answer the questions. On the fourth group, the experimenter would self-disclose and proceed with the same procedures as group three, but for this group, the experimenter would touch the subject in the back. After the experiment, the subjects were asked to fill out their impressions and feelings. The independent variable for experiment two was the touching and the self-disclosure of the experimenter. The dependent variable was the time spent and duration of the subject’s self-disclosure.

The results of the impressions of the experimenter and the experiment were higher in the fourth group with 455.5 and lower in the first group with 88.8. The impressions for the second group was 121.7 and 372.53 for group three. Impressions were high in the third group, but

it increased in the fourth group. The feelings toward the experimenter and the experiment was higher for both the third and fourth groups. Due to the results, it is determined that self-disclosure happens more when others self-disclose as well and when there is touching involved.
From both studies, it was revealed that the hypothesis was correct. When subjects felt uncomfortable, their self- disclosure would decrease and they would lose eye contact. However, eye contact is different between genders and males feel more comfortable with no eye contact and females when there is eye contact. Subjects expose more information when the experimenter did the same and it increased even more when the experimenter touched the subject’s back.
For both studies, one of the strengths was that there was a good internal validity. Dividing the subjects into different groups and having the same number of females and males was good because it helped to differentiate from how much self-disclosure each exposed. However, some of the limitations were that on the second experiment, each subject should have answered the questions because since probably not all the subjects answered the same questions, it could have impacted on how much disclosure the subjects actually revealed. Another limitation was that the experiments were vague and that the experimenter was a male. Having a male experimenter could have decreased the self- disclosure of females and they would have probably self-disclose more with a female experimenter.
Overall, this research is valuable and informative because anyone reading this study can possibly understand why some individuals do not self-disclosure more often. This article is psychological phenomenon or can be applied to real-world problems because it can help those who have had a traumatic event and in order to feel better mentally and physically they need to self-disclose themselves. This article will help guide individuals through their problems. This study can be applied to my life because it can help me in interpersonal relationships, job interviews and in therapies. It can also benefit me to understand my disclosure and those who surround me.