Self-Disclosure Correlates of Physical Attractiveness: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

24 male and 24 female college students were paired randomly to form stranger dyads and were asked to prepare and exchange topic-guided self-descriptions. Self-descriptive protocols were scored for breadth and content of self-disclosures, and relationships were assessed between subjects' disclosure indices and their self-rated and partner-rated levels of physical attractiveness. As expected, the two attractiveness ratings were weakly though significantly related. The more attractive their self-perceptions, the more men disclosed and the more favorable their disclosures were apt to be. In contrast, the more attractive the women regarded themselves, the less self-information they revealed. Disclosure was positively associated with partner-rated attractiveness, particularly for the men. Results were discussed in the context of possible developmental consequences of physical attractiveness on intra- and interpersonal processes.