Anxiety and Self-Disclosure: Toward a Motivational Model

The self-disclosures of socially anxious and nonanxious Ss were compared within the framework of R. M. Arkin's (1981) motivational theory of social anxiety. Ss ( N = 84 women) were paired with a confederate who disclosed at either a high or a low level of intimacy (i.e., the classic reciprocity...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 1993-06, Vol.64 (6), p.1000-1009
Main Authors: Meleshko, Ken G. A, Alden, Lynn E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affectivity. Emotion
Anxiety
Anxiety - psychology
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Emotions
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Influences
Internal-External Control
Motivation
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Self Concept
Self Disclosure
Selfdisclosure
Selfprotection
Social Anxiety
Social Environment
Social Perception
Social psychology
Social research
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Summary:The self-disclosures of socially anxious and nonanxious Ss were compared within the framework of R. M. Arkin's (1981) motivational theory of social anxiety. Ss ( N = 84 women) were paired with a confederate who disclosed at either a high or a low level of intimacy (i.e., the classic reciprocity paradigm). Consistent with R. M. Arkin's theory, anxious Ss were concerned with self-protection during the task and disclosed at a moderate level of intimacy regardless of their partner's behavior. In addition, anxious Ss did not reciprocate their partners' disclosures as well as did nonanxious Ss. The self-protective behaviors of the anxious Ss were associated with less liking and more discomfort on the part of their partners. This suggests that the adoption of self-protective strategies may elicit negative interpersonal reactions that maintain self-defeating interpersonal patterns in socially anxious people.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.64.6.1000