A test of self‐disclosure based on perceptions of a target's loneliness and gender orientation

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the interacting effects of others' definitions of the target's loneliness and masculine and feminine personality characteristics (gender orientation) on self‐disclosure to the target. As a target's loneliness decreased, the more honest the disclosure was to that person. While targets who were defined as feminine also received high levels of honest disclosure, a combination of feminine and masculine traits (androgyny) facilitated high amounts of in‐depth disclosure. Neither sex of target nor an interaction of sex and gender orientation affected disclosure. Overall analyses showed that a target's perceived feminine and low lonely characteristics were most related to honest and perceived high loneliness to depth of disclosures.

Key concepts:

• Self‐disclosure
• loneliness
• gender orientation
• androgyny
• interpersonal communication
• person perception