Personality and Cultural Differences in Self-Disclosure

 Finding Out About Others and Ourselves: Social Perception, Attribution, and Self-Presentation | Presenting Ourselves to Others: Personality and Cultural Differences in Self-Disclosure

                There are vast individual, and often cultural, differences in the tendency to reveal things about oneself. Kurt Lewin (1936, 1948), for example, made some interesting informal observations of differences between Germans and Americans. He suggested that Americans appear to be more open and self-revealing than Germans but that this openness extends only to the peripheral layers. He observed that Americans are more apt to reveal superficial things about themselves, but that they are extremely reluctant to share their innermost secrets. Germans, on the other hand, are somewhat more difficult to get to know casually; they are reluctant to reveal some of their superficial attitudes and values. However, once one has managed to gain the Germans’ confidence, they are much more open about their inner secrets. Lewin’s observation is an intriguing one, but there is not yet much systematic research on this topic.

                Self-disclosure is especially difficult for men in our society (Cozby, 1973). Traditionally men have been expected to be unemotional, strong, stoic, self-composed. Therefore, it has been considered unmanly to reveal too much. In his letter, Cleaver seems to exemplify this male reticence. Jourard (1964) believes that because men restrict their feelings, they pay a heavy price in terms of poor personal adjustment and self-confidence.

(Source: Raven, Bertram H., Rubin, Jeffrey Z. 1983. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2nd Edition. United States of America: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

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