Self Disclosure

When people disclose information from a closed area (hidden self), people do self-disclosure (Jourard, 1968, 1971a, 1971b). In this section, the man observed a number of aspects of self-disclosure (self-disclosure): Essentially, the factors that influence it, how to avoid it, the benefit or usefulness, and possible dangers.

Reality of Self-Disclosure

Self-disclosure is a type of communication where people disclose information about itself that is usually hidden. Special note should be given about some aspects of this elementary definition.

Self-disclosure is a type of communication. Thus, statements concerning the unintended human beings such as slip-tongue, nonverbal movement that is not realized, and open acknowledgment generally can be classified into self-disclosure communications. But, generally, the term self-disclosure is used to refer to the disclosure of information consciously, like the statement "I am afraid of flying," or "I spent time in jail for two years before I met you."

Disclosure itself is "information". Something that was not previously known to the recipient. Information is the new knowledge. For self-disclosure occurs, a new knowledge must be communicated.

Self-disclosure is information about themselves: about the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of people, or about other people who are very close to a very thinking. Thus, self-disclosure can be interpreted as an act of self.

Self-disclosure of information concerning the usual and actively concealed. While some researchers (eg, Derlega et al., 1987) looked at self-disclosure as any information about yourself. Self-disclosure is information that is usually not disclosed and humans are actively trying to keep it confidential.

Self-disclosure involves at least one other person. For self-disclosure occurs, follow the communication must involve at least two people. Self-disclosure can not be an act of intrapersonal. To become self-disclosure, the information must be accepted and understood by others.

Factors Affecting Self-Disclosure

Self-disclosure occurs more smoothly in certain situations than other situations. Here, we identify several factors that influence self-disclosure.

1. Large Group. Self-disclosure occurs more frequently in smaller groups than in large groups. Dyads (groups of two people) is the most suitable environment for self-disclosure. With one listener, the parties conducting the self-disclosure can permeate responses carefully. With the support or lack of support, one can monitor this self-disclosure, forward if the situation is to support and stop it if the situation does not support. If there is more than one listener, this kind of monitoring is difficult, because the response would appear different from different audiences.

2. Feelings like. We are opening ourselves to people we like or love and will not open up to people we do not like (Derlega et al., 1987). This is not surprising because the people we like (and perhaps like us) will be supportive and positive. Self-Disclosure John Berg and Richard Archer (1983) reported that not only we ourselves to them requires that we like, we seem to be like unto them to whom and to open up. We also open up more to people we trust (Wheeles and Gross., 1977). At times, self-disclosure is more likely to occur in relationships that are temporary rather than permanent relationships for example, between prostitutes and their clients, and even among fellow passenger train or plane. Michael McGill (1985), in McGill Report on Male Intimacy, and naming this kind of relationship "intimate journey" ("in-intimacy"). In this situation, two relationships are intimate self-disclosure during a short trip, but did not continue after that.

3. Dyadic effects. We perform self-disclosure when a person sharing, we also do self-disclosure. Dyadic effect this might make us feel safer and, in fact, reinforce the behavior of our own self-disclosure. Berg and Archer (1993) reported that self-disclosure become more familiar when it is done in response to self-disclosure to others.

4. Competence. More competent person to do in self-disclosure rather than the less competent. "Very probably," Lawrence said James McCroskey and Wheeless (1976), has the confidence needed to take better advantage of self-disclosure. Or, more likely to be again, a competent person may have many positive things about themselves to be disclosed rather than the people who are not competent. "

5. Personality. People who have a way (sociable) and extroverts perform self-disclosure more than their less jaunty and more introverted. Feelings of anxiety also affects the degree of self-disclosure. Uneasiness sometimes increase self-disclosure and other times reduce it to a minimum. People who lack courage to speak in general also expressed themselves less than those who feel more comfortable in communicating.

6. Topics. We are more inclined to open up about another topic. For example, we are more likely to reveal personal information about our work or hobbies rather than about the sex lives or our financial situation (Jourard, 1968, 1971a). We also reveal better information faster than the information that is not good. Generally, the more personal and more negative a topic, the less likely we disclose it.

7. Sex. The most important factor affecting self-disclosure is gender. Generally, men more or less open than women. Judy Pearson (1980) argues that the role was sex (sex role) and open the sexes in the biological sense for the discrepancies in terms of this self-disclosure. "Women who are masculine," for example, is less open than women who value a lower masculinity scale. Furthermore, the "feminine man" to open up greater than men who value a lower femininity scale. Men and women jug suggests different reasons for their avoidance of self-disclosure, as illustrated in Table 3.1. (Rosenfeld, 1979).