Online Publication of Undergraduate Studies 2019, Volume 10, Issue 1
Self Disclosure to Teachers and Peers
Self-Disclosure In Preschoolers Within Classroom Settings: Teachers and Peers Francesca Bottazzi
Self-disclosure is defined by psychologist Jon G. Allen (1974) as the voluntary interchanging of personal information through communication with others. This form of interpersonal communication is necessary for the sustainability of socially intimate relationships starting from a young age, and can be displayed in a variety of ways (Allen, 1974; Buhrmester & Prager, 1995). The extent of information a person of any age will voluntarily disclose is related to three factors: personal characteristics of the individual disclosing, personal characteristics of the person to whom they are disclosing, and the nature of the relationship between them (Pederson & Higbee, 1969). These factors are important to consider when conducting studies involving child participants, wherein researchers seek to learn about children’s experiences from their point of view through open and honest self-disclosure (Mayeza, 2017). For young children who are socially developing, such as preschoolers, self-disclosure is related to certain social and environmental contexts that prompt them to speak (Buhrmester & Prager, 1995; Kudo & Simkin, 2003). While there is extant literature focusing on peer-to-peer self-disclosure, further research is required to better understand self-disclosure within hierarchical relationships (e.g., teacher-student relationships; Kam, Gasiorek, Pines, & Fazio, 2018; Kudo & Simkin, 2003). This power dynamic is important to consider in the study of selfdisclosure because it may affect how preschoolers’ self-disclose (Buhrmester, 1990). Patterns of Youth Self-Disclosure Since preschoolers frequently engage in communication with their peers, researchers have identified common patterns of their self-disclosure (Buhrmester, 1990; Chen & Nakazawa, 2012). For example, there is a marked increase in self-disclosure to same-sex peers, as opposed to opposite-sex peers (Buhrmester, 1990; Buhrmester & Prager, 1995). This pattern remains true when preschoolers disclose to parents and teachers, wherein boys most often disclose to their fathers and male teachers, and girls to their mothers and female teachers (Buhrmester & Prager, 1995; Woolfolk & Woolfolk, 1975). Between preschool boys and girls, girls tend to disclose more overall (Buhrmester & Prager, 1995; Papini, Farmer, Clark, Micka, & Barnett, 1990). However, these patterns of self-disclosure are malleable, changing with environmental and contextual influences such as setting, and whom the preschooler is speaking with (Afifi & Steuber, 2009; Buhrmester & Prager, 1995; Kam et al., 2018). Preschoolers most often self-disclose to their peers
for the purpose of group acceptance, only opening up to friends who validate them and with whom they can connect based on mutual experiences and interests (Buhrmester, 1990; Ladd, Kochenderfer, & Coleman, 1996). As preschoolers have more frequent affectionate exchanges with their peers, their friendships become more intimate and trusting over time, which results in added instances of self-disclosure (Buhrmester, 1990). In contrast, preschoolers hesitate to self-disclose to individuals with whom they experience high tension or low amounts of support, validation, and trust (Berhmester, 1990; Berhmester & Prager, 1995; Ladd et al., 1996). In other words, if a preschooler does not perceive that their self-disclosure will be received well, they will not open up (Buhrmester & Prager, 1995; McElvaney, Greene, & Hogan, 2014). This is especially true within studentteacher relationships, as children are able to discern whether to self-disclose by determining how warm, open, and accepting the teacher is based on positive or negative verbal statements (e.g., praise or criticism) and nonverbal cues (e.g., tone of voice, facial expression, and posture; Buhrmester & Prager, 1995; Woolfolk & Woolfolk, 1975). For example, preschool-age students are more likely to self-disclose to teachers who display positivity and warmth, through smiling and nodding, than teachers who present negatively and impersonal, by frowning or using an angry tone of voice (Woolfolk & Woolfolk, 1975). These findings further highlight how preschoolers self-disclose to individuals they believe will be the most helpful and validating, based on an assessment of how their audience will react to the content of their disclosure (Afifi & Steuber, 2009; Behrmester & Prager, 1995; Vangelisti & Caughlin, 1997). Self Disclosure and Communicative Development Self-disclosure patterns are constantly evolving during childhood, wherein social interactions influence and are influenced by the child’s social development (Buhrmester & Prager, 1995). In this bidirectional relationship, preschoolers’ cognitive and social development affects their communicative skills, shaping the nature of their self-disclosure (Hershkowitz, Lamb, Orbach, Katz, & Horowitz, 2012; Nelson & Fivush, 2004). Since preschool-age children are still developing social and communication skills, they often require prompting through conversations with teachers and peers, and the utilization of materials such as books and toys to form a cohesive narrative (i.e., a personal experience typically shared sequentially in first person; Hershkowitz et al., 2012; Nelson & Fivush, 2004). Prompting offers children a reason to share, and teachers 33 | Research Studies and Briefs
