Race, Sex, Ordinal Position of Birth, and Self-Disclosure in High School Students

Abstract

The Jourard and Lasakow (1958) Self-disclosure Questionnaire was administered to 120 high school students in order to examine relationships of birth order, race, and sex to self-disclosure. Results indicated that later borns disclosed more than firstborns, whites disclosed more than Negroes, and mother was the favorite target person. Further, firstborn Negroes disclosed less than any other group, females disclosed most to mother and female friend while males disclosed least to female friend, firstborns disclosed most to mother, and whites disclosed more to father than Negroes. Results were discussed in relation to possible child-rearing practices affecting the meaningfulness of interpersonal relationships established by the various birth ranks.In an attempt to clear up some of the inconsistencies in the literature dealing with ordinal position of birth, a study was undertaken (Dimond & Munz, 1967) which related birth order to meaningfulness of interpersonal relationships (Jourard & Lasakow, 1958). The hypothesis that later born individuals disclose more than firstborn individuals was upheld. It was also found that females disclose more than males and that females disclose more to mother and female friend as "target persons" than to father and male friend, mother being the favorite "target person" of both sexes.In that research (Dimond & Munz, 1967) a random, but restricted. sample of each condition of sex and ordinal position of birth (first-and later born) was drawn from a middle class high school. There was no attempt made to control for race in the sample and it is not known what percentage in the group was Negro. Since the results and interpretations appear to be important for the birth-order literature, it should be noted that previous self-disclosure studies using the Jourard and Lasakow ( 1958) Self-disclosure Questionnaire found significant differences on the parameter of race (Jourard & Lasakow, 1958). Negroes disclosed themselves to others significantly less than whites. Further, Negroes tended to disclose little to all significant others but mother. Therefore, in attempting to ( 1 ) clarify some of the existing inconsistencies in the birth-order literature and ( 2 ) objectify the relationship of race to the previous research (Dimond 8: Munz, 1967), it was the purpose of the present study to assess the effects of birth order, sex and race on self-disclos~ue by sampling first-and later born whites of each sex and first-and later born Negroes of each sex employing a more sophisticated sampling technique. Further, the present study explored the interactions between racial groups as functions of birth order and self-disclosure.'Now at Kent State University.

Ethnic and Acculturation Differences in Self-Disclosure

“…Thus, several studies have found that females disclose more than males and that some ethnic minorities, specifically Black, Puerto Rican, and Mexican American, disclose less than Anglo-Americans. Other studies, however, have reported no difference in amount of disclosure between Blacks and Anglos (17) and between genders (8,9,10).…”

“…Theoretically, the individual who never discloses or the individual who discloses a great amount indiscrimintely may be perceived by others as maladjusted (19). Others have proposed that amount of self-disclosure is dependent on the individual's personality (5,8,9), gender (13,14,20,21), and ethnicity (21,32). Thus, several studies have found that females disclose more than males and that some ethnic minorities, specifically Black, Puerto Rican, and Mexican American, disclose less than Anglo-Americans.…”

The Influence of Ethnicity, Gender, and Dyadic Composition On Uncertainty Reduction in Initial Interactions

“…Specifically, Diamond and Hellcamp (1969), Woeken et al (1973), and Littlefield (1974) all found that whites tend to disclose at higher rates than blacks. The only study to find no significant differences in self-disclosure between blacks and whites is Jaffee and Polansky's (1962) study of lower-class adolescents showing delinquent trends.…”

“…Finally, Ting-Toomey (1984) found ethnic (black/white) differences in conflict management styles. Research on ethnic differences in languages (e.g., Folb, 1982); nonverbal patterns (e.g., Johnson, 1972), self-disclosure (e.g., Diamond and Hellcamp, 1969), interrogation (e.g., Shuter, 1982), and communicator style/ attraction (e.g., suggests the following hypothesis:…”

Effects of Administrator and Participant Sex and Ethnicity on Self‐Disclosure

“…In many studies, however, differential disclosure levels have been reported for men and women and for members of minority groups. For example, it has been reported in several studies that women self-disclose more than do men (Hood & Back, 1971;Jourard & Landsman, 1960;Jourard & Lasakow, 1958;Pederson & Breglio, 1968) and that disclosure among Black, Puerto Rican, and Mexican-American ethnic minorities is significantly less than among AngloAmericans (Levine & France, 1981;Dimond & Hellkamp, 1969;Jourard & Lasakow, 1958;Littlefield, 1969). Conversely, some researchers have reported-no difference in disclosure patterns between lower socioeconomic class Blacks and Whites (Jaffee & Polansky, 1962) and between the sexes (Dimond & Hellkamp, 1969;Doster & Strickland, 1969).…”