Effects of simulated approval-seeking and avoiding on self-disclosure, self-presentation, and interpersonal attraction

Abstract

Forty-eight undergraduate women assigned an approval-seeking or approval-avoiding role disclosed significantly more to a male listener (C) than did control Ss given no particular set, with no difference found between seeking and avoiding conditions in intimacy of disclosure. But content analyses indicated that approval-seeking Ss presented themselves significantly more positively, and approval-avoiding Ss significantly more negatively than did controls. These data supported the hypothesis that disclosure may serve as an instrumental affiliative act associated with both interpersonal approach and avoidance motives. The hypothesis that simulated attraction facilitates actual attraction was supported more clearly in analyses of Ss' liking ratings of C than in Ss' ratings of C's attractiveness or desirability as a dating partner. The latter findings are discussed in terms of intimacy implications of the attraction measures used.