Social or biological factors: What decides the differences in self-disclosure between the two sexes?

Self-disclosure is the process through which one person shares private information about him- or herself with others, usually for the development of an intimate relationship. This information, which covers virtually everything about the person, can include and is not limited to thoughts, feelings, dreams, goals, fears, and likes or dislikes. Although populations from different regions or cultures tend to view self-disclosure differently, people strikingly can spend up to either 60% or 80%, depending on where the conversation takes place, of their conversations talking about themselves.

Among the factors that contribute to the differences in self-disclosure, several have been well studied as pure social factors. These include image of the self, social norms of self-disclosure, topics of the conversation, and expectation of the future between the speaker and the listener. The role of one interesting factor, however, remains controversial—sex. It has been reported in multiple studies that males and females self-disclose differently. In general, females are more willing to self-disclose more personal information at higherfrequencies than males do. While most researchers agree that males are more reluctant to speak about themselves (Chelune, 1976; Rosenfeld, 1979) due to social expectations of male gender rolesand a greater need to control their privacy, it is indicated in a study by Chelune (1976) that females do not disclose more information than males do. Instead, females simply share a smaller amount of information each time at much higher rates. Regardless of this minor disagreement, it appears convincing to say that males and females differ in self-closure due to social factors. Therefore, sex induces differences in self-disclosure via different social expectations of the two sexes.

But wait! Can we safely conclude that sex functions solely as a social factor, as it is more than clear that the definition of sexes derives from biological differences between males and females? Let’s first find out whether self-disclosure can be biologically explained. Self-disclosure was found to be able to activate multiple regions in the dopamine pathway. Results of a recent study (Tamir, & Mitchell, 2012) suggest that subjects, when self-disclosing instead of describing characteristics of another person, had significantly more activation (see attached figure) in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). These two regions are directly involved in the dopamine pathway, controlling the secretion and transduction of dopamine. Therefore, the activation of the NAcc and VTA will naturally lead to a dopamine-induced euphoric feeling, which makes self-disclosure a rewarding behavior.

This finding led to my suspicion that there could be sex-differentiated activation in those two regions, so that males may find self-disclosure less rewarding, compared to females. A significant amount of research has indicated that heterosexual and homosexual males and females differ in brain activations and behavioral responses when performing various tasks (smelling sex hormones, doing mental rotations, etc.). Similar to these findings, homosexuals and heterosexual females are found to be more engaged in self-disclosure than heterosexual males (Bliss, 2000), suggesting that NAcc and VTA activation may differ between sexes, and even within the same sex. Unfortunately, the exact differences in brain activation patterns were not examined. As a result, it remains unknown whether biological differences between the two sexes in NAcc and VTA activation can explain differences in self-disclosure. If such biological differences are confirmed in the future, we will have a much deeper understanding of self-disclosure, a major component of human conversations, and of peoples’ preference for self-disclosure. It is then possible to say that males, or even individuals with less sensitive NAcc and VTA, are not socially forced to self-disclose less, but are just born to find self-disclosure less rewarding. In other words, stereotypes may be reduced to simple differences.

Reference

Bliss, G. K. (2000). Self-disclosure and friendship patterns: Gender and sexual orientation differences in same-sex and opposite-sex friendships. (Order No. AAI9973608, Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, , 1749. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/619562839?accountid=7379. (619562839; 2000-95021-096).

Chelune, G. J. (1976). A multidimensional look at sex and target differences in disclosure. Psychological Reports, 39(1), 259-263. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/616097333?accountid=7379

Rosenfeld, L. B. (1979). Self‐disclosure avoidance: Why I am afraid to tell you who I am. Communication Monographs, 46, 63-74

Tamir, D. I., & Mitchell, J. P. (2012). Disclosing information about the self is intrinsically rewarding. PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(21), 8038-8043. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1202129109