Subjects were asked to recall actual intimate conversations with closest same-sex friend and closest opposite-sex friend and reconstruct the dialogue. Responses were used to form a reliable example-anchored scale. The criteria for rating were the topic of disclosure, the feeling-content and spontaneity of disclosure, and the receptivity of the target person. The sample was 128 Williams College students, evenly divided by sex, half freshmen and half seniors, Caucasian, and middle-class. An analysis of variance showed significant differences in level of intimate disclosure: freshman males to males, low; freshman males to females and senior males to males, moderate; senior males to females and females of either age to friends of either sex, high. Level of intimate disclosure was independent of the tendency to give socially desirable responses on the Marlowe-Crowne Scale. Using objective ratings as a standard, it was concluded that self-ratings of intimate disclosure are inflated and often inaccurate.
Partner Meeting Contexts and Risky Behavior in College Students’ Other-Sex and Same-Sex Hookups
