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Eliciting Self-Disclosure: The Personality and Behavioral Correlates of the Opener Scale

2001; Elsevier BV; Volume: 35; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1006/jrpe.2000.2315

1095-7251

C. Randall Colvin, Don Longueuil,

Optimism, Hope, and Well-being

We examined the personality and behavioral correlates associated with the tendency to elicit self-disclosure from others as assessed by the Opener Scale (Miller, Berg, & Archer, 1983). Participants completed the Opener Scale and were videotaped in two dyadic interactions with an opposite-sex stranger. Friends rated participants' personality characteristics on the California Adult Q-sort (CAQ; Block, 1978) and trained coders rated the videotaped behavior of participants in each of the dyadic interactions. Results indicated that women's Opener scores were more strongly related to social behavior with strangers, whereas men's Opener scores were more strongly related to friends' CAQ personality ratings. A follow-up study revealed that women and men used different reference groups when completing the Opener Scale. Women rated their “opener” behavior by referring to past behavior with strangers and acquaintances, whereas men rated their “opener” behavior by referring to past behavior with close friends, significant others, and family members. The use of the Opener Scale for research on judgmental accuracy and emotional intelligence is discussed.