The Importance Of Self-Disclosure

The experiment was a conversation between me and a friend. The experiment was to test the level of self disclosure and its use to stimulate honesty and understanding. In the experiment I found out that self disclosure is very important in developing trust and enhancing relations between individuals. This morning experiment involved a conversation with a friend where I employed self disclosure. During the conversation, self disclosure assisted in more things to talk about and as self disclosure was reciprocal the conversation got more detailed. Self disclosure is essential as it is the core of relational development and relations cannot be achieved without self disclosure. Self disclosure also provides effective and competent communication between individuals. In choosing when and who to self disclose, it is essential to ensure that the process is reciprocal. One should only self disclose with trusted individuals. Where a deeper relationship is desired with the other party then self disclosure becomes inevitable. Self disclosure is very vital in relational development.

Self disclosure works best when there is reciprocation of disclosure. When the other party does not self disclose, the breath and the depth of the conversation cannot be achieved. In the self disclosure experiment with my friend, there were a few surprises which include non verbal communication. As self disclosure got deeper, self disclosure also became easy. This involved acknowledgment and validation of what had been self disclosed. The boundaries that I found useful in the self disclosure experiment were using self disclosure selectively. This involved making choices on what to disclose based on the awareness of the positive and negative consequences of disclosure. It was also essential to consider the trustworthiness and receptivity of the other party before self