PSYC 4520 1st Edition Lecture 21Outline of Last Lecture I. Assessment: The Q-Sort TechniqueA. The Q-Sort techniqueII. Strengths and Criticisms of the Humanistic ApproachA. StrengthsB. CriticismsOutline of Current Lecture I. Self-DisclosureA. What is self-disclosure?B. Self-disclosure in psychotherapyC. Disclosure reciprocityD. Self-disclosure among friends and romantic partnersE. Disclosing men and disclosing womenF. Disclosing traumatic experiencesII. LonelinessA. LonelinessB. Defining and measuring lonelinessC. Chronically lonely peopleThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.D. The causes of lonelinessIII. Self-EsteemA. Self-esteemB. Self-esteem and reaction to failureC. Contingencies of self-worthD. Self-esteem and cultureIV. SolitudeA. SolitudeB. Time aloneC. Preference for solitudeCurrent LectureI. Self-DisclosureA. What is self-disclosure?i. When you talk to people, you take turns sharing information about yourselves. People engage in self-disclosure when they reveal intimate information about themselves to another person. The discloser considers the information personal and selectively chooses whom to disclose to.ii. Humanistic psychologists say that self-disclosure is important for our well-being; it is how we come to know ourselves.B. Self-disclosure in psychotherapyi. Humanistic psychologists say that clients benefit when they have an open exchange with the therapist. When clients feel free to explore their true feelings, they move closer to understanding/ becoming their true selves.ii. The therapist must also engage in appropriate self-disclosure. This createsan atmosphere of trust and elicits more disclosure from clients.C. Disclosure reciprocityi. Disclosure reciprocity is a social rule that states that people involved in a conversation reveal information about themselves at the same level of intimacy: I tell you my personal information as long as you match that level of intimacy by telling me your personal information.ii. We reciprocate disclosure intimacy because self-disclosure leads to attraction and trust. When people disclose information about themselves to us, we are attracted to them, and trust follows. We respond by disclosing back, creating the reciprocity effect. Studies find that we disclose to people we like and we like those who disclose to us.iii. Because disclosure leads to liking, we can use self-disclosure to make newfriends. But disclosure alone does not lead to intimacy and liking: relationships also require a responsive partner. When partners respond topersonal disclosure with caring and by revealing their own feelings, intimacy develops. Failure to do this may hurt the relationship.D. Self-disclosure among friends and romantic partnersi. Sometimes when talking to a friend, one of you may do most of the talking (e.g. if your friend tells you she “needs to talk”). The reciprocity rule may not apply to friends; after a certain level of intimacy is reached, we feel free to disclose to friends without requiring reciprocal disclosure.ii. The highest level of disclosure reciprocity occurs among people who are still getting to know each other. They have made a commitment to learn more about each other but do not yet know each other well enough to assume that the trust will be there without some sign of assurance. iii. Friends (rather than strangers) are more likely to talk about intimate topics (e.g. self-concepts or sexual experiences).iv. Willingness to self-disclose is related to how easily one makes friends; in one study, students who willingly disclosed their emotions developed more intimate relationships than those unwilling to do so.v. The amount of self-disclosure in a marriage predicts relationship satisfaction. The more couples talk about what is important to them, thebetter they feel about the marriage. Hiding personal information from a partner leads to less satisfaction and commitment.E. Disclosing men and disclosing womeni. Women disclose more intimately and to more people than men do. ii. This gender difference is expected/reinforced by society. In one study, highly disclosing women were liked more when they talked about their parents/sexual attitudes and less when they disclosed about their personal aggressiveness. Similarly, self-disclosing men are seen as well-adjusted as long as they talk about masculine topics.iii. Men and women are more likely to be accepted when they disclose within the appropriate societal roles for their gender. For men, this usually means withholding information; for women, it means being open and disclosing, but only on topics that society deems appropriate.F. Disclosing traumatic experiencesi. In one study, students wrote anonymously about a traumatic experience they once had, something they may have kept inside for years. Nearly every participant could identify a secret trauma; 25% of them cried. These students wrote about themselves for 15 minutes each night for 4 nights; other students were told to spend this same amount of time writing about trivial topics (e.g. a description of their living room).ii. Measures of blood pressure and self-reported mood showed that writing about a traumatic experience led to stress/negative mood immediately after the disclosure. However, researchers contacted the students again 6 months later, asking them about their health during the 6 months. Students in the trivial topic group showed an increase in number of illnesses, and only those who had disclosed a traumatic experience showed a decrease. Though writing about their problems created mild, short-term discomfort, the act of disclosing improved their health.iii. Disclosure results in better physical and psychological health. Keeping things inside takes a lot of effort, and this stress takes a toll on health.II. LonelinessA. Lonelinessi. People are lonelier now than 20 years ago; the typical American has gone from having 3 close friends to 2, and the percent of people who said they had no one to discuss important matters with rose from 10% to 24.6%.ii. Loneliness is epidemic in college; 75% of freshmen contacted at a large university 2 weeks into the year said they had been lonely since school began, and more than 40% said their loneliness was moderate or severe.iii. This loneliness can be attributed to existentialism that affected people at the time of humanism (the idea that we are all alienated