Behavioral characteristics predicting self and peer perceptions if open communication

Past research has found little correspondence among self, peer, and observer assessments of self‐disclosure, seriously hampering researchers’ abilities to isolate, predict, and explain self‐disclosure and its relational consequences. This study suggests that the conceptualization and operationalization of self‐disclosure may account for this problem. This research investigates the performance of weighted prediction equations incorporating multiple, observed, openness characteristics in predicting sender and peer‐receiver perceptions of communicated personal information. The derived equations perform very well in discriminating between high and low rated open communicators in a group communication situation. The results suggest that senders and receivers attend to a cluster of content and, particularly, style characteristics in judging openness.