Exploring the role of experience in close relationships and online self-disclosure

Abstract

As a factor of interpersonal behaviour, self-disclosure is potentially informed by attachment orientation. This research examined the link between attachment and online self-disclosure (SD) in a between groups study design. Sixty-eight participants took part in an online survey, completing attachment (ECR-R) and SD measures. Participants were grouped into either anxious or avoidant cohorts based on results from the ECR-R scale. Linguistic analysis was conducted on the qualitative responses with word count software (LIWC2015), 15 variables associated with SD in previous literature were measured. Independent sample t-tests examining differences in the 15 LIWC variables between the anxious and avoidant groups found no significant differences. The hypothesis that anxiously attached scores would lead to higher levels of SD was not supported as there were similar levels of SD across both attachment types. The implications of which are discussed in the context of previous studies and recommendations made for future research.