The purpose of this paper is to review and to evaluate five scholarly papers that deal with the topic of self disclosures. It will try to examine each of the five scholarly articles and how they particularly address the issue of gender and self disclosure. These journal entries and articles were carefully selected from a list different compilation of journals regarding the topic. Careful selection and reading of various articles were done to facilitate thoroughly selecting the articles that would best suite the issue presented in this paper.
There are five articles that were scrutinized and reviewed. The first article is entitled Self Disclosure and Listener Verbal Support in the Same-Gender and Cross Gender Friends Conversation written by . Other articles are Close Emotional Relationship With Women Versus Men written by , Gender, Religion and Adolescent Patterns of Self Disclosure in the Divided society of Northern Ireland by Sexual Satisfaction and Sexual Self-Disclosure Within Dating Relationship written by . The last journal article read is a work by entitled Sibling Self Disclosure in Early Adolescent. These articles were acquired from different journals that would be appropriately mentioned in the Work Cited Page.
The first article written by discussed the relationship between gender and self disclosure with regards to the gender. It looked at interaction and self disclosure that exist between friends using same gender and cross gender references. The article also argued about the examination with regards to the process of self disclosure by inspecting both the discloser and the listener’s conversational behavior (). At first the article predicted that women would demonstrate both more self disclosure and more active listening when compared to men. The findings of the study confirmed that the gender of the speaker and the partner has affected conversational behavior during self disclosure sessions. Unlike other authors and researchers in this line of topic, it was found out that men had more self disclosures regardless of the gender of the partner although Leaper and she further claimed that this fact is plausible because of the structure of the questions wherein they are only asked to talk about their family and friends (). The study also concluded that men are more likely to self disclose and respond to assigned topics when compared to women while women are more at ease when self disclosing about family and personal matters.
The second article by is about self disclosure and examination of the difference and similarities that exist in a number of heterosexual men’s close emotional relationship correlated with other men women. It attempts to see if self disclosure, close emotional and sexual relationship is affected by the gender of an individual while hoping to identify reasons and demographical factors that tend to affect the outcome of the study (). The study found out that generally men feel more emotionally close to the opposite sex. Most of the respondents feel closer to women because they see that they have a greater ability to disclose to men, it gives them emotional and physiological comfort when talking to women and they also feel that they are understood by women (). The respondents also added that sexual intimacy is shared with the women that they are talking to and that age, ethnicity, educational level, occupation and relationship status do not have any bearing on the nature and level of self disclosure between men and women ().
Another article written about self disclosure is made by in his study regarding self disclosure in the adolescent stage and the influence of religion in self disclosure activities. Northern Ireland was chosen because of the polarity and divisiveness that exist between the Catholic and Protestant populace of that place (). The study specifically look at the effect of gender and religious affiliation on the level of self-disclosure of adolescents using same-sex friend, opposite-sex friend, same-sex stranger and opposite-sex stranger category ().
In this study, it was found out that female adolescents disclose more when they are speaking to individuals with the same sex when compared to male individuals. It was also found out that the adolescent female also discloses more when to the same-sex stranger individuals compared to their male counterparts (). It was also noted that men and women prefer to self-disclose with females than male friends and strangers. With regards to the aspect of religion it was noted by the researchers that Catholic adolescents engage more in self disclosure in relation to strangers when statistics are compared to their Protestant counterparts ().
A study made by regarding self disclosure within a dating relationship was also studied. The specific focus of the study in this case is the examination of the association between sexual and nonsexual self disclosure and sexual satisfaction. It also examined the association between sexual and nonsexual self disclosure to relationship satisfaction. The research also studied if whether sexually self-disclosing reported greater relationship satisfaction ().
The study found out that self disclosure is closely linked with the length of the relationship, frequency of affection and relationship satisfaction (). The ability to self disclose is also directly affected various factors such as commitment, relationship satisfaction and level of affection (). The sample population as noted by the researcher feel most free to self discloses their sexual likes and dislikes if they perceive that the relationship can be positive and if the sexual self disclosure can be reciprocal. Sexual self disclosure meanwhile did not have any effect on the relationship and sexual satisfaction of an individual in a dating relationship and the study suggested that within dating relationships, the communication and disclosure of sexual likes and dislikes are not the primary factors in building a long lasting relationship ().
The last article reviewed is the study made by wherein she investigated on the frequency of self disclosure using three different sets of recipients namely closest-in-age sibling, parents and friends. The study also focused on the self disclosure of the siblings and it examined the association of self disclosure with factors such as the topic of sibling disclosure, quality of sibling relationship and the frequency of these self disclosure activities ().
Based on the study it was surmised that the respondents discloses more frequently to their siblings of the same sex than to their parents or friends and that the level of self disclosure reflects the warmth, affection and the love that the siblings had for each other (). As stated in the paper, this is due to the nature and the environment that surrounds the sample population which was a closely knit English speaking community. Ordinary activities that is jointly participated by the siblings inside and outside the home also increases trust, mutual concerns and love that enables frequent self disclosure between them (). The study also found out that a positive and a direct relationship between the attitude of the respondents to their siblings and the level of self disclosure that they are experiencing ().
In reading and analyzing the text of the five articles, we can see that self disclosure can be affected by different factor, both external and internal. Internal factor such as the closeness and affection that a family member receives from other members of the family have a significant impact on the way he/she handles him/herself and how he/she tries to let other people know him/her. In one of the studies discussed in was found out that the closer bond between family members facilitates greater self disclosure and that these self disclosures are usually between siblings. In a relationship, self disclosure is affected by the level of intimacy between partners and the level of commitment that is contributed by each person. External factors can refer to the location and environment and orientation of the society that can directly and indirectly affect self disclosure activities. Issues such as sex, religion and personal preferences plays a significant role in shaping how a person views himself and how other view him/her. For example, in the study conducted in Northern Ireland, Protestant adolescents had a lower tendency to disclose herself/himself with a stranger.
With regards to gender, men as stated by the articles mentioned above have a higher tendency to self disclose to the opposite sex because of emotional, physical and sexual needs. But in the case of women of all age brackets they are more likely to self disclose with people who are emotionally close to them like their parents, friends and siblings.
Although in the above mentioned cases, it is clear that the studies and research were done using different and varied number of respondents and sample population not to mention each study is distinct and unique because each of them focus on an aspect of self disclosure, it is safe to assume that each study reiterates the dynamics that influences the process of self disclosure.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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