The Nature of Disclosure Reciprocity: Three Forms of Reciprocation

It was proposed that the emphasis of previous investigations of selfdisclosure reciprocity on descriptive reciprocation, the intimacy of the facts an individual reveals about himor herself, stems largely from the fact that these investigations have structured the circumstances for disclosure in terms of the exchange of information. If the circumstances were changed to a conversation or if participants were concerned with increasing their lttractiveness to another, other forms of reciprocity including affective reciprocity, the strength of the emotions revealed, and topical reciprocity, the degree to which a response addresses topics previously raised, might be more pronounced. An experiment varying the circumstances for disclosure and the intimacy of disclosure initially received from an experimental confederate indicated that the structural difference between information exchanges and conversations was a major determinant of topical reciprocity while affective reciprocity was primarily influenced by the desire to increase one's attractiveness. Results are discussed in term of the existing theories of disclosure reciprocity and the concept of