Reciprocal Self-Disclosure in Mixed-Race and Same-Race Dyads

Sixty-four male teenage residents (32 white, 32 black) of a juvenile detention home were exposed to intimate selfdisclosure from an experimental confederate posing as a volunteer at the facility. Subjects were assigned to one of eight conditions which varied subject race (white or black), confederate race (white or black), and content of confederate disclosure (depression or substance abuse). Following the confederate's disclosure, each subject revealed in return and then completed a questionnaire measuring various dimensions of attraction to the confederate. Subjects disclosed more intimately and gave higher ratings of liking, trust, and similarity to same-race partners. Also, black subjects reported feeling less trusted by their partners. Confederates revealing substance abuse problems were perceived as less adjusted. The results were interpreted within the framework of social penetration theory. Methodological difficulties of self-disclosure research were discussed.