Self-disclosure as a function of need for approval.
Date
1970
Authors
McLaughlin, David Hamilton
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Abstract
The influence of Need for Approval as measured by the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale upon openness of self-disclosure during a small group interaction was examined, using thirty-two female S's matched into eight groups of two High and two Low Need for Approval S's each. During the experimental session, the S's in half the groups were merely told to get to know one another. The remaining groups were given additional instructions equating openness with social desirability. Each group interacted for forty-five minutes with measures of openness taken at the fifteen, thirty, and forty-five minute marks. Each subject rated the openness of one High and one Low Need for Approval other.
High Need for Approval S's showed a significant increase in openness over the course of their interaction. This was the only significant finding. It was speculated that S's socially reinforced those who talked about themselves and that people with High Need for Approval were more responsive to this reinforcement than were people with Low Need for Approval. It was initially hypothesized that people with Low Need for Approval would be judged as more open than people with High Need for Approval, and that S's (especially those with High Need for Approval) would be more open when instructions equated openness with social desirability. These hypotheses were based on the assumption that S's would divulge socially undesirable information about themselves when instructed to reveal personal information about themselves to others. It was felt that a more adequate test of these hypotheses may have resulted had S's been explicitly told to reveal socially undesirable information about themselves to the other members of the group.