Com 200 - Self-Disclosure and Gender

Self-Disclosure and Gender

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COM200: Interpersonal Communication

Prof. Anny Tran

January 25, 2013

Yes we can relate to this article in many ways. We could be in a restaurant eating and if someone was to look at us, they could think that we were unhappy because we were eating and not talking. We talk about everything from movies to cars every day we talk. So it might seem to others that we might be unhappy while we are eating but we are not. As stated by the author "Sidney Jourard (1971), defined self-disclosure as permitting one's true self to be known to others. However, while self-disclosure is important for building rapport with other people, it is also an important way in which you learn more about yourself. By putting your ideas, beliefs, and experiences into words, you explore your thoughts and feelings about them." (Sole, 2011)

We have been together for over 25 years, when we first meet we talked about everything. So we would have to say yes self-disclosure is a very important to a happy relationship. Without it we would have not been together for over 25 years. We still ask each other some questions so we can make sure that the other person is happy like: I can change the channel if you want to watch something else, or are you sure this is ok for dinner? I can make something else if you want me too. As stated by the author "Behavior that makes your partner feel loved, cared for or special -- plays a role in happy marriages and that men need it more than women. Affective affirmation can be as simple as a hug, a thank you or buying a partner's favorite food. Men tend to favor gesture of affirmation over words, Orbuch says. Women tend to go with verbal affirmation." (Schoenberg, N. 2011)

Yes there are gender differences, because we are male and female. There are many gender similarities between us. Men and women like that same things, as a couple we both like cars and most of the same movies and this is just a few examples. Also outside of this couple, men and women hold the same jobs which make them similar. Yes, it felt that we do fit into these generalizations, because we do some of the same things as our spouse does. We will help him to work on the cars if needed, and so on. If we did not have a good communication between us we would never have last for 25 years.

References

Schoenberg, N. (2011, Jan 17). Can we talk? researcher talks about the role of communication in happy marriages. McClatchy