Intimacy Status

Abstract

The purpose of these studies was to determine whether individuals who have afully developed capacity for intimacy, as assessed by an intimacy status interview and rating, could be distinguished from those with lesser capacities based on their locus of control orientation, self-disclosure, and anxiety levels. Study I indicated that women high in depth and commitment in their romantic relationships were more internally orientated than those low in either depth or commitment. A finding of no group differences in self-disclosure was thought to be due to the absence of a specified target for the disclosure. In study 2 target persons were specified. It was found that those with high levels of intimacy development had disclosed more about themselves to their romantic partners than those lower in intimacy development and that highly intimate individuals disclosed more to significant others than to casual acquaintances, whereas less intimate participants did not disclose differentially when communicating to different recipients. It was concluded that highly intimate individuals differ from the less intimate not in their overall self-disclosure levels, but rather in their capacity to be selectively self-revealing with their most significant others. Finally, highly intimate participants reported lower levels of global anxiety than did less intimate participants.