Revealing personal information to others, as well as the social perceptions of that act, have played a significant role in social relationships and society throughout history (see Rieber, 1980). Such acts and perceptions are an integral part of social relationships in modern society across a wide range of cultures (Altman & Taylor, 1973; Chelune, 1979; Goodwin, 1990; Ting-Tomey, 1991). Specifically, the revealing of personal information plays a crucial role in the major problems faced by men and women in modern times, such as AIDS (Maloney, 1988), abortion (Smith & Kronauge, 1990), rape (Koss, 1992), sexual preferences (Wells & Kline, 1987), and venereal disease (Inhorn, 1986). All involve persons revealing serious personal information that has significant social and health implications for themselves and often others. The contemporary importance attached to revealing personal information is reflected in the views held by various clinical psychologists that it is critical to mental health (Jourard, 1971; Raphael & Dohrenwend, 1987) and to the success of psychotherapy (Rogers, 1951; Truax & Carkhuff, 1967).

Revealing intimate information to others and perceptions of that act have been considered under the rubric of “disclosure processes.” The fundamental assumption of the study of disclosure processes is that persons' verbal and nonverbal communications vary along a depth dimension, from very superficial to very personal or intimate (see Altman & Taylor, 1973).