The purpose of this research is to explore how people make sense of the word feel in their communication across different social relationships and contexts. Assuming the use of the word feel is linked to the act of emotional expression, a secondary purpose is to examine how the perceived management of the word feel may be linked to well-being. Fifteen individual participants shared their perceptions about how they use the word feel over eight types of interpersonal relationships. Discourse analysis revealed that the function of the word feel was to self-disclose emotions or to inquire about them in others. The word feel emerged as a tool that can be wielded to achieve catharsis, intimacy, or social support while framing several subject positions within a discourse of emotional disclosure. When the word feel was reciprocated with others, participant perceptions showed how social status influenced how it was managed in relationships. In particular, the vulnerable disclosing parties were required to take risks in order to achieve the benefits of disclosure. Ruptures in the discourse occurred when participants who did not have opportunities to self-disclose experienced an unwanted emotional tension, an interest in receiving social support, or a drive to find closeness. These instances led to a use of the word feel outside of its emergent social rules. Finally, the beliefs of participants showed it was not just status that played a role in its management but gender as well. The findings show that although the deployment of feel requires judicious management of the risks inherent in emotional self-disclosure, the use of this can indicate the exchange of social resources known to have positive effects on well-being.

Facebook provides adolescents with multiple opportunities to self-disclose information about themselves, one of the most prominent ones being a status update. This qualitative study expanded on existing research related to adolescent self-disclosure on Facebook by exploring ten adolescents\' experiences of self-disclosing on a Facebook status when upset or distressed. Using thematic analysis, prominent themes emerged which included the decision making process in making such a post, concerns of privacy, impacts on peer relationships, perceptions and feelings of others, sense of community and support systems. Limitations of the study, clinical implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed. / Master of Science

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The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the connection between attachment and self-disclosure behavior across communication technologies. Very little research has explored the connection between attachment and self-disclosure, and no studies have examined the relationship in the context of communication technologies. Drawing on attachment theory, self-disclosure literature, and communication technology research, this dissertation predicted that individuals with high anxious or high avoidance attachment would capitalize on the affordances of communication technologies and be associated with more self-disclosure behavior. Two studies were completed to test these hypotheses. Study one (n = 479) was a cross-sectional survey using participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Study two (n = 309) was an experiment where participants had their attachment system activated by experiencing a threatening situation hypothetically. Both studies had participants report self-disclosure behavior with their romantic partner in frequency and degree of intimacy. Each participant was randomly assigned one communication channel to report on (e.g., face-to-face, text messaging, email, or social networking sites). The results from the two studies provided mixed results for attachment and self-disclosure behavior across communication technologies. In general, anxious attachment was positively associated with self-disclosure frequency and degree of intimacy regardless of which channel was used, which was expected. Avoidance attachment was negatively associated with self-disclosure frequency, but only when the participant was experiencing a threatening situation. Neither attachment style interacted with the number of cues perceived to be available in a communication channel in the proposed direction when predicting self-disclosure behavior. However, both attachment dimensions interacted with a channel’s perceived expectation for response when predicting self-disclosure intimacy. When participants were not experiencing a threat to their security, those with high anxious or high avoidance attachment reported self-disclosing more intimately in channels perceived to have less expectation for response. Together these findings suggest individuals with high anxious attachment may use self-disclosure as a hyperactivating strategy to connect with an attachment figure. Individuals with high avoidance attachment choose not to self-disclose as a deactivating strategy that prevents intimacy from forming. Additionally, individuals with high anxious or high avoidance attachment can capitalize on a channel’s expectation for response and feel comfortable self-disclosing something intimate in a channel perceived to have a low expectation for response.

The literature suggests that self-disclosure of stuttering may positively impact the listener’s perception of persons who stutter. This phenomenon, although investigated with adults, has not been studied with regards to children who stutter. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of self-disclosure on listener perceptions of children who stutter. Specifically, this study examined whether listener perceptions of a child speaker who stutters are contingent upon the presence or absence of a self-disclosure statement prior to the speaker initiating his or her monologue, and whether listener perceptions are susceptible to gender bias. Child participants (n = 71) between the ages of 6 years, 0 months and 12 years, 11 months were randomly assigned to view two of the four possible videos (male self-disclosure, male no self-disclosure, female self-disclosure, and female no self-disclosure). Directly following the viewing of both videos, participants completed a survey analyzing their perceptions of the speaker for various traits related to personality and intelligence. Results for effects of self-disclosure achieved significance for all ten questions. With regard to gender, there was a significant difference for all questions except ‘more unintelligent’ and ‘less distracted’; however, when the gender viewing possibilities were compared across the three distinct groups (distinguished by whether the video pairing included the male speaker only, the female speaker only, or both a male and female speaker), there was no significant difference found. This suggests that the difference across responses are only present when all three gender groups are collapsed, which further indicates that gender did not have a distinct impact on the responses to the questions. Additionally, there was no significant interaction between self-disclosure and gender, suggesting that these two factors have independent, un-related influence on listener perception. In summary, the present findings indicate that the use of self-disclosure may positively impact children’s perceptions of other children who stutter, and that these perceptions are not uniquely impacted by gender. / text

Previous research has indicated that the use of self-disclosure statements may be beneficial in improving listener’s perceptions of a speaker who stutters. While some research to this point is available concerning the perceptions of adults, this theory has not been studied in school-age populations. In addition, information about the perceptions of listeners who are also stutterers is unexplored. This study seeks to address these voids in the literature and also to explore the impact of gender bias in the context of self-disclosure. This study seeks to bolster the evidence-based practice for the technique of self-disclosure and to better understand the perceptions of school-age listeners. Such information could improve treatment delivery and outcomes as part of a comprehensive intervention program for individuals who stutter. Research objectives were explored by exposing participants to two of four possible videos of a speaker who stutters (a male who self-discloses, male who does not self-disclose, female who self-discloses, and a female who does not self-disclosure). Directly after viewing the videos the participant completed a survey probing for perceptions of the speaker, information about their experience with and knowledge of stuttering, and allowing for additional comments to be reported. Results indicated a preference for the speaker who self-disclosed. However, some differences were noted between then listener groups (stutterers versus. non-stutterers). The participants who stuttered tended to be less impacted by the presence or absence of a self-disclosure; they more often reported perceiving “no difference” between the speakers across a variety of traits in comparison to the participants who do not stutter. These results indicate that individuals who stutter and individuals who do not stutter may perceive the use of self-disclose differently. Results, in regards to gender bias, were inconclusive. In summary, results from the current study add to the body of research supporting the use of self-disclosure statements and suggest that individuals who stutter may perceive their use differently than individuals who do not stutter. / text

The study attempted to investigate the element of self-disclosure in the everyday communication transaction. More specifically, it sought to determine: (1) What is self-disclosure and how has it been defined? (2) What are the intrapersonal variables affecting the process? (3) What barriers hinder the interpersonal process of self-disclosure? (4) What, in fact, is appropriate self-disclosure within the interpersonal transaction? and (5) How can self-disclosure be facilitated to enhance the interpersonal process of communication?Although numerous theorists have attempted to define the process, the definitions have been inconsistent and somewhat vague. The study suggested that self-disclosure is not realistic in the everyday communication transaction, and attempted to illustrate how communication could be enhanced through a modified approach to self-disclosure. This approach included the utilization of a supportive climate and the giving and receiving of constructive feedback. The modified approach was illustrated through the use of the Johari Window.Further research was suggested to determine the effects of interpersonal trust and the effects of attitudes on the self-disclosing process.

What function does self-disclosing conversation play in the conversations of young children? Two studies were conducted to investigate how 5 14 year old children self-disclose in their everyday conversations. Both studies video-recorded children’s self-disclosing conversations while they participated in an art activity. Study 1 investigated the effect of two conversational partner characteristics (age of partner and partner familiarity), and of the conversational context on children’s self-disclosing behavior. Children were paired with an unfamiliar adult, an unfamiliar peer, or a familiar peer play partner, and conversations were recorded in three interaction contexts. Self-disclosure was found to be a more frequent topic of conversation in a fairly barren conversational environment than during an art activity. In each context, however, children self-disclosed at least twice as often with an unfamiliar as with a familiar play partner. There was no difference in self-disclosing behavior for children paired with an unfamiliar adult or an unfamiliar peer. Study 2 was designed to investigate a possible function for increased self-disclosing with an unfamiliar partner: that children use self-disclosure in early conversations with unfamiliar partners to gauge the desirability of future interaction. It was hypothesized that children would evaluate unfamiliar partners who did not participate in self-disclosure less favorably than children paired with a self-disclosing partner. A methodology was designed to allow children to think they were talking to another child when they were actually speaking with a researcher trained to talk like a five-year-old. Children were randomly paired with a play partner who either reciprocated or did not reciprocate self-disclosing conversation, and behavioral and evaluative] reactions were measured. Results indicated that children paired with a non-reciprocating partner became less persistent in their self-disclosing initiations over time. Children paired with a reciprocating partner self-disclosed at similar levels throughout the interaction. Evaluative differences were also found. Children paired with a non-reciprocating partner rated the unfamiliar peer significantly lower than children paired with a partner who reciprocated self-disclosure. Based on these findings, it was concluded that young children are differentially sensitive to the self-disclosing behavior of unfamiliar conversation partners, and that they use participation in self-disclosure as a gauge for establishing initial connections with unfamiliar partners. / This thesis was digitized as part of a project begun in 2014 to increase the number of Duke psychology theses available online. The digitization project was spearheaded by Ciara Healy.

Recent research has demonstrated that high social anxiety is associated with uncertainty about one’s self views and self-concept (Moscovitch et al., 2009; Stopa et al., 2010; Wilson & Rapee, 2006). However, no research has addressed potential mechanisms underlying the link between high social anxiety and low self-certainty nor has research examined whether this relationship is bi-directional. In the current research, I propose a cyclical model in which high social anxiety leads to low self-certainty, which in turn, feeds back into higher levels of social anxiety. I also propose that the relationship between high social anxiety and low self-certainty is mediated by the self-protective self-disclosure patterns employed by socially anxious individuals. In three interconnected studies, I examine the hypothesis that social anxiety, self-disclosure and self-certainty operate in a cyclical model. Study 1 provided a correlational test of the hypothesized feedback model in its entirety and demonstrated that honesty of self-disclosure was the most important and influential mechanism underlying the link between high social anxiety and low self-certainty. Experimentally manipulating the honesty of participants’ self-disclosures in Study 2 demonstrated that dishonest self-disclosures during a social task led to low self-certainty, but only amongst individuals high in trait performance anxiety. Finally, experimentally manipulating self-certainty in Study 3 demonstrated that low self-certainty led to high anticipatory anxiety about an upcoming self-disclosure task. Together, these results elucidate a cyclical maladaptive pattern in which low self-certainty as a result of self-protective self-disclosure leads to high social anxiety and a greater reluctance to self-disclose. Results from the three studies are discussed with respect to their theoretical implications and in relation to clinical applications for individuals with social anxiety disorder.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of peer modeling of self-disclosure on elementary aged girls whose parents are divorced. A treatment dismantling strategy was utilized to study the effects of modeling with combinations of specific instruction and rehearsal. The primary research question was: What are the effects of peer video-tape modeling on the self-disclosure of children of divorce? Additionally, will modeling effects be significantly greater with the inclusion of specific instruction and/or rehearsal? It was hypothesized that each of the treatment groups would display significantly greater self-disclosure than would the no-treatment group. Further, it was hypothesized that modeling with specific instruction and rehearsal would yield greater disclosure than any of the other treatment groups or the no-treatment group.Twenty-two girls from grades three, four, and five received one of four treatments or no treatment. After treatment, each girl was asked to talk about her parents' divorce. The ensuing monologue became the data with which the hypotheses were evaluated.Results of the study were mixed. Modeling alone significantly influenced the length of the monologue in seconds while the three-component treatment significantly increased rate and ratio of use of personal pronouns. There was no significant difference between groups on dimension variables (i.e., type, target discloser, level of intimacy). Conclusions were drawn concerning the implications for school counselors, child psychologists, and community agencies. Modeling was viewed as a viable facilitator for increasing talk time which might lead to more "I-messages" and aid a health care giver in establishing rapport thus increasing depth of disclosure. Ramifications were considered for future research to clarify the possibilities of modeling to facilitate self-disclosure of children of divorce.