Self-Disclosure Patterns among Chinese Users in SNS and Face-to-Face Communication

Literature Review

Research has shown that culture, gender, motives, personality traits, specific contexts and topics, and other factors can influence the patterns of self-disclosure (Kim & Dindia, 2008). Self-disclosure has been defined as disclosure of individuals’ personal information to others in the form of written word (Lai & Yang, 2014). As early as 1979, Chelune argued that self-disclosure involves revealing personal and private information (e.g., thoughts, feelings, or experiences). Nakanishi (1986) posited that mutual relationships between culture and communication could result in multiple self-disclosure patterns. Culture has been viewed as “a constellation of loosely organized values, practices and norms shared by an interconnected group of people in a given nation,” which “conditions language patterns” as well as “regulates what, where, and how we communicate” (Chen, 1995, p. 85; Jackson & Wang, 2013, p. 910).

Several theoretical conceptualizations can help understand the nature of self-disclosure among Chinese social network site users. According to social penetration theory (Tang & Wang, 2012), during the initial interaction stage of relational development, individuals might not disclose important information about themselves because of personal safety. However, individuals may disclose more information as their relationships with the target person progress. From a uses and gratifications perspective, self-disclosing behavior of microblog users (Lai and Yang, 2014) can be affected by popularity (e.g., being attractive) and interpersonal needs (e.g., building intimate relationships).