Abstract
People vary in how willingly and how often they discuss their emotional experiences with others. A new Emotional Self-Disclosure Scale was used in three separate investigations to examine (Study I) men's and women's willingness to discuss their emotions with parents and therapists, (Study II) the impact of gender and culture on emotional disclosures to male and female friends and therapists, and (Study III) the impact of gender and the masculine role on willingness to emotionally disclose to parents and therapists. The results indicated that (a) female disclosers and female disclosure recipients, particularly mothers, were associated with greater willingness to emotionally disclose; (b) females from Mexico reported the most extensive disclosure of their emotions; and (c) the restrictive emotionality and inhibited affection aspects of the masculine role were negatively related to men's and women's willingness to be open and revealing about their emotional experiences, whereas the success dedication aspect of the masculine role was positively related to women's willingness to be emotionally open. The discussion focuses on the implications of the current findings and the relationship context of people's emotional disclosures.
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Snell, W.E., Miller, R.S., Belk, S.S. et al. Men's and women's emotional disclosures: The impact of disclosure recipient, culture, and the masculine role. Sex Roles 21, 467–486 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289098
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289098