This dissertation advances the affordance utilization model (AUM), which addresses the use of communication modes affordances in personal relationships. Drawing from social penetration theory and research regarding two communication mode affordances--asynchronicity and reduced cues--the AUM predicts that these affordances are positively associated with certain conversational outcomes (specifically, conversational effectiveness and appropriateness, and self-disclosure breadth and depth) but that these associations vary as a function of relationship development. As relationships become more developed, the AUM predicts that communication mode affordances exert less impact on conversational effectiveness, conversational appropriateness, and self-disclosure in conversations in relationships. As a result, the associations between communication mode affordance use and these conversational outcomes are attenuated by relationship development. Regarding self-disclosure depth, the AUM predicts that the association between communication mode affordance use and self-disclosure depth is greatest at moderate levels of relationship development. The AUM also predicts that both use and perceived importance of affordances as a proportion of communication in relationships will decrease as those relationships become more developed. Two studies were conducted to test the AUM. The first surveyed participants regarding their most recent conversation in either a friendship (N = 147) or romantic relationships (N = 166). The second study was a diary study in which participants (N = 64) filled out a short survey after every conversation with their partner for four days. The results of the two studies provide mixed support for the AUM. Although importance of affordances was not associated with relationship development, use of affordances was generally negatively associated with relationship development, as predicted. In general, conversational appropriateness was positively associated with the use of communication mode affordances, and conversational effectiveness, self-disclosure breadth, and self-disclosure depth were negatively associated with affordances. In Study 1, increased relationship development attenuated the association between perceived asynchronicity and both conversational appropriateness and self-disclosure breadth in romantic relationships. In Study 2, increased relationship development attenuated the association between perceived reduced cues and conversational effectiveness. These findings and their implications for the AUM are discussed, and future research directions for the AUM are suggested.

Embodied Conversational Agents (i.e., avatars; ECAs) are appearing in increasingly many everyday contexts, such as e-commerce, occupational training, and airport security. Also common to a typical person's daily life is persuasion. Whether being persuaded or persuading, the ability to change another person's attitude or behavior is a thoroughly researched topic. However, little is known about ECAs' ability to persuade and whether basic persuasion principles from human-human interactions will hold in human-ECA interactions. This work investigates this question. First, a broad review of persuasion literature, which serves as an inventory of manipulations to test in ECA contexts, is presented. This literature review serves an inventory to guide future Persuasive ECA work. The ECA literature is then reviewed. Two preliminary studies exploring the effects of physical attractiveness, voice quality, argument quality, common ground, authority, and facial similarity are presented. Finally, the culminating study testing the effectiveness of ECAs to elicit self-disclosure in automated interviewing is presented and discussed. The findings of that automated interviewing study suggest that ECAs may replace humans in automated interviewing contexts. The findings also suggest that ECAs that are manipulated to look like their interviewees are able to induce greater likeability, establish more rapport, and elicited more self-referencing language than ECAs that do not look like the interviewees.

Master of Science / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Jared A. Durtschi / Can having more frequent conversations with a romantic partner prior to marriage contribute to better marital outcomes several years into a marriage? Little is known regarding premarital self-disclosure and its association with distal marital outcomes. Data was utilized from 707 newly married couples assessed across the first four years of marriage through three waves of assessment as part of the Marriage Matters Panel Survey of Newlywed Couples (Nock, Sanchez, & Wright, 2008). Structural equation modeling, including common-fate analysis, was used to test self-disclosure prior to marriage and its association with later marital quality of each spouse and the odds of divorce or separation by the first four years into marriage. Couple-level reactivity was tested as a mediator of these associations, while controlling for known covariates. Results indicated that premarital self-disclosure was associated with wives’ higher marital satisfaction and lower odds of divorce or separation three to four years into marriage. This relationship was mediated by reactivity. Clinical implications are discussed for couples prior to marriage, suggesting more frequent conversations about a wider variety of topics between dating couples.

This research examines the disclosure of psychological distress by university students on an anonymous mobile application called Yik Yak which allows users to communicate anonymously with other local individuals, creating virtual communities. Using online ethnography and qualitative analysis, I examine what the narratives presented by Yik Yak users reveals about the mental health concerns of University of Manitoba students and the characteristics of this virtual community. The findings show that exam anxiety and academic stress, depression, suicidality, anxiety, sleep disturbance, excessive stress, loneliness, sadness, and loss of motivation, were significant sources of distress, especially during final exam periods. Thematic analysis indicated that emotion-sharing on the app fosters social support, a sense of belonging, and helps build community. Individuals are also able to disclose repressed selves and counter stigmatizing beliefs. Examining distress disclosure by individuals on this anonymous platform may help develop better interventions and mental health programming for students. / October 2016

The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate factors associated with childhood sexual abuse which mediate long-term effects. Of particular interest were the mediators of disclosure and its perceived impact, as well as variables related to the severity of the abuse. Also of interest were impact areas related to a history of molestation which have received little attention in the literature. Five hundred and seventy-five female undergraduates completed an extensive questionnaire with measures of family background, childhood and adult sexual experiences, health status, and psychological variables. Of these subjects, 286 reported at least one incident of child sexual abuse. It was hypothesized that those females with histories of sexual abuse who received a positive response to their disclosure of abuse would demonstrate more adaptive adult functioning as compared to those victims receiving a negative response, or those who never disclosed. Significant differences were not detected among the three groups on the outcome measures. A number of reasons were explored for why these differences may not have been detected in the present investigation. Although differences were not detected for disclosure status, significant differences were detected between females reporting a history of child sexual abuse and those reporting no abuse on all of the outcome measures. Specifically, sexual abuse victims were more likely than nonvictims to be sexually revictimized in adulthood. Potential explanations for this finding were explored in a discriminant function analysis predicting revictimization status. Further, abused females had significantly higher levels of depression, dissociation, and perceptual disturbances when compared to their nonabused peers. Sexual abuse victims also reported more health symptoms across various bodily systems and had more negative attributions about their physical health status. Differences between the abused and nonabused groups on levels of perceptual disturbance and perceived physical health status are particularly noteworthy since previous research has detected these symptoms only through clinical samples.

The effects of taking a third person role on self disclosure, self sympatheticness and several nonverbal parameters of task involvement were examined in a psychotherapy analogue study. Subjects were classified as high or low in ego strength using previously established norms for college students. In the third person role subjects were instructed to describe themselves from the perspective of an "intimate and sympathetic best friend." An encouragement to talk format was used to facilitate self description from the first person. Support was not found for the hypotheses that altering the perspective used in self description would increase self disclosure and that high ego strength subjects would be better able to use a perspective taking intervention. Theoretical and methodological issues are discussed. Recommendations for future research are made.

This research aims to fill a research gap by examining WeChat to explore whether changes of social context would exert any influence on the information disclosure of social networking site (SNS) users. Selective Exposure Theory and Uses and Gratification Theory were used as the theoretical foundation for this study. Four-hundred Chinese college students in China and the U.S. who have a WeChat App and have logged in to use it within the last 30 days from the day administered were asked to participate in a survey about their motivations and consequences when using WeChat. Results from MANOVA showed that the motivations and consequences of female participants’ self-disclosure were significantly higher than were male participants on WeChat. Moreover, the social context of Chinese students studying in the U.S. is perceived to be more individualized than the traditionally collective context that is perceived by Chinese students studying in China.

Starting with Adler’s original work with families in an open forum, there is a long history of both self-disclosure and storytelling in therapeutic practice. This presentation traces that history and identifies the purposes and goals of these interventions in Adlerian therapy. Demonstrations of effective use are provided. Participants will learn the purposes and therapeutic goals for self-disclosure & storytelling in Adlerian counseling & therapy. Participants will learn guidelines for appropriate use of self-disclosure and storytelling in therapy.

No description available.

Self-disclosure is used by feminist, humanistic, client-centered, and a variety of other counselors to build therapeutic alliances with clients. However, little research has been conducted on counselors' perceptions of their preparedness to use self-disclosure. This exploratory multiple-case study used attachment theory as a framework to explore the perceptions of novice licensed professional counselors' preparedness to use self-disclosure. The 12 participants who participated in face-to-face interviews practiced as licensed professional counselors in Delaware, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania. The participants described how they learned, practiced, and used self-disclosure. After analyzing interview data through cycle coding and peer review, themes emerged showing participants' life experiences, clinical practices, education, and supervision as having prepared them to use self-disclosure. Participants perceived they were prepared to use self-disclosure through their educational experience but primarily learned to self-disclose through trial-and-error. Participants reported learning to self-disclose by taking a chance and practicing the self-disclosure skill with clients after receiving their license. Professional counselors, supervisors, and counselor educators who are the gatekeepers for future counselors may use the study's findings to improve understanding of and training in self-disclosure. The findings can be used to enhance the training of how to prepare counselors to use self-disclosure, therefore, minimizing harm to the clients. Learning more about training counselors to use a skill that is of use with or without intent is of significance to the field of mental health counseling.