Self-disclosure plays a central role in the development and maintenance of relationships. One way that researchers have explored these processes is by studying the links between self-disclosure and liking. Using meta-analytic procedures, the present work sought to clarify and review this literature by evaluating the evidence for 3 distinct disclosure-liking effects. Significant disclosure-liking relations were found for each effect: (a) People who engage in intimate disclosures tend to be liked more than people who disclose at lower levels, (b) people disclose more to those whom they initially like, and (c) people like others as a result of having disclosed to them. In addition, the relation between disclosure and liking was moderated by a number of variables, including study paradigm, type of disclosure, and gender of the discloser. Taken together, these results suggest that various disclosure-liking effects can be integrated and viewed as operating together within a dynamic interpersonal system. Implications for theory development are discussed, and avenues for future research are suggested. Wanting Mary to like him more, John told her that he sometimes felt insecure with women who were so capable but that he really wanted to work on those feelings. Believing that John was really opening up to her, Mary realized she liked John, and her responses to him made him believe that he was winning her over. Mary told John she wasn't as self-confident as he perceived her to be, she too had doubting moments... Self-disclosures, such as those conveyed by John and Mary above, involve the act of revealing personal information about oneself to another. Such actions have been viewed as central to the development of close relationships (Altman & Taylor, 1973) and to the maintenance of psychological well-being (Jourard, 1964) . Since Jourard's (1964 Jourard's ( , 1971 ) pioneering work, self-disclosure has been the focus of theoretical discussion and research inquiry in a number of disciplines, including psychology, communication, and sociology. Although the self-disclosure literature is extensive and complex, most of the empirical work within psychology has addressed a small number of self-disclosure phenomena. This article will focus on one of these: the relation between self-disclosure and liking (for more general reviews, see Derlega, Metts, Petronio, & Margulis, 1993; Chelune, 1979; Cozby, 1973; Goodstein&Reinecker, 1974 can be traced to the early work of Jourard (1959) , who found a positive association between liking for another person and disclosure to that person in a sample of nursing students and faculty. Since then, a number of studies have confirmed that we disclose more to those whom we initially like (e.g., Certner, 1973 , Fitzgerald, 1963 Worthy, Gary, & Kahn, 1969) , and that we tend to like those who disclose personal information to us (e.g., Archer, Berg, & Runge, 1980; Daher & Banikiotes, 1976; Taylor, Gould, & Brounstein, 1981) . However, the relationship between self-disclosure and liking is not always a positive one. Many studies have indicated little or no association (e.g., Broder, 1982; Ehrlich & Graeven, 1971; Horenstein & Gilbert, 1976; Kohen, 1975; McAllister, 1980; Runge & Archer, 1988) , whereas others have demonstrated a negative relation under some conditions (e.g., Archer & Berg, 1978; Cozby, 1972; Dalto, Ajzen, & Kaplan, 1979; Rubin, 1975) . Thus, despite a long history, researchers have failed to uncover a reliable pattern. As a result, the disclosure-liking literature has been described as disorganized, confused, and somewhat "muddled" (Berg, 1987) . One factor that has contributed to this confusion is that researchers have not clearly distinguished among several different disclosure-liking relations (Berg, 1987; Kleinke, 1979; Miller, 1990) . As a result, studies that have examined "the" disclosure-liking effect often have been concerned with very different intrapersonal and interpersonal phenomena (Archer, 1980; Miller, 1990) . It is possible to distinguish among at least three disclosure-liking relations: (a) Do people like others who disclose to them more than others who do not? (b) Do individuals disclose more to people whom they initially like? (c) Do individuals like others as a result of having disclosed to them? As shown in Figure 1 , these effects differ in the source of disclosure, the source of liking, and the causal direction assumed to underlie their association. Effect 1 is an interpersonal link involving the behavior of one person and the perceptions of another, whereas Effects 2 and 3 are intrapersonal links involving the disclosure and liking of one individual. Although there are other possible disclosure-liking relations (see Berg, 1987, and Miller, 1990) , these three have received the most research attention. The relation between a person's level of disclosure and a recipient's liking for the discloser (Effect 1) has been of special interest to social psychologists, and studies that have explored this effect make up the largest portion of the literature. This is most often the relation of interest when researchers refer to the disclosure-liking hypothesis. The other effects, however, are equally important for understanding the role of self-disclosure in social interaction, and each has received some independent research attention. Moreover, many studies that were designed to test the first effect have been confounded by one or more of the other effects. Thus, a critical step in organizing and integrating the literature in this area is to clearly distinguish among different disclosure-liking relations. The primary goal of this article is to review and clarify the disclosure-liking literature by evaluating the evidence for each different disclosure-liking effect. To accomplish this, we identified studies that addressed each effect and conducted a separate meta-analysis for each set of findings. Our secondary goal, whenever possible, was to identify the conditions under which each effect is enhanced or attenuated. Thus, using past research and theory as a guide, we explored several variables that may moderate the relationship between disclosure and liking and may account for inconsistent findings among studies. Effect 1: Do We Like Others Who Disclose to Us? How do people perceive others who engage in self-disclosure? To address this question, one must treat self-disclosure as an independent variable and assess a recipient's liking for the discloser. Before considering the mechanisms that might be responsible for this effect, it is useful to consider how self-disclosure has been defined and operationalized.
Self-disclosure involves the act of revealing personal information about oneself to another agent, typically a human REF .
Self-disclosure and liking: A meta-analytic review.
Psychological bulletin
Psychological bulletin
Psychology Medicine