Assessing the Structure of Efficacy and Outcome Expectancies in the Decision to Disclose Secrets: A Comparison of Contrasting Theories

Abstract

This investigation examined the process by which people decide to disclose secrets. Two competing models tested the order that people consider outcome expectancies and efficacy assessments when making disclosure decisions. Participants (N = 349) answered questions about a currently held secret and related cognitions. Two months later, people indicated whether they disclosed the secret by that time. Communication efficacy and outcome expectancies predicted disclosure in both models, but coping efficacy only predicted disclosure when modeled exogenously to outcome expectancies. Model comparisons provided moderate support for the latter model as more preferable, suggesting that outcome expectancies may mediate the effect of communication and coping efficacy on the decision to disclose secrets.

Keywords:

• Communication Efficacy
• Coping Efficacy
• Disclosure
• Outcome Expectancies
• Secrecy

Notes

[1] The TMIM/RRM/DD-MM model fit improved after dropping the nonsignificant parameter from outcome expectancies to secret disclosure, χ² (31) = 53.97, p < .05, RMSEA = .046, 90% CI = .019, .137, SRMR = .025, CFI = .99. This post hoc respecified model’s parsimonious fit statistics (BIC = 5357.56, AICc = –158.27) were not meaningfully different from those of the a piori theorized SCT/DDM model.