40 LEMAY AND MELVILLE 19g4.actionbetweend )whoy valuc a relationship with with our as dia hou thes perceivers would see lack of disclosu in situation y.their perception o We do not dispute that self-disclosure often has benefits.How ional facto th shane the m and con tions of di ticity of pa disclos of the ed per .In S by the partner's lack of res Hence.none of ions between omantie parmers.In Study dings e using a 6.v ived sel-dis re that we Ind ed.mo vely.to test predictions regarding the motivational nature self-disclosur that ere based n bia Study 1:Perceptions of Hypothetical Events sured in this way.high self-disclosure should be Study the the ations (thos self-d sure (ReisShaver,1988).These global me ood that perceive define the of elf-d nerceivers should feel trust when rs behave in a and cnhand manner.but lack of trust when they behave in an ion mine he diagnosticity of pa Overview ning relationships with partners.Hence,perceiv ewith their self-disclosureinspecific nzed by the ure when the partne This pr should be their partners should report me self with t views in six studies.In Studies 1 two dill sponsive situs uld b with ntions of self. must in nrtnere'care and comm lack of the globa ositive relationshin disclosure should be associated with positive relationshin percen Partner Valuing Perceived Self. Figure Concepual model guiding the present researh.analyses on self-disclosure suggest that intimate disclosures en￾hance attraction between disclosers and listeners (Collins & Miller, 1994). From this point of view, people who want relationships should hardly feel threatened by the perception of self-disclosure. To the contrary, their perception of disclosure may even be desired and reassuring. We do not dispute that self-disclosure often has benefits. How￾ever, we believe that a more nuanced approach can reveal the situational factors that shape the meaning and consequences of disclosure. None of the findings described above examined per￾ceptions of self-disclosure of needs and desires in situations char￾acterized by the partner’s lack of responsiveness. Hence, none of the findings examined the potentially threatening consequence (i.e., perceived diagnosticity of unresponsive behaviors) of per￾ceived self-disclosure that we have emphasized. Indeed, most of the studies concluding that disclosure enhances relationships in￾volved assessments of self-disclosure that were based on across￾situation generalizations (i.e., the degree to which one generally discloses to a particular partner). We would agree that, when measured in this way, high self-disclosure should be associated with positive relationship functioning, as it would suggest the building of intimacy and general trust in the partner’s responsive￾ness to self-disclosure (Reis & Shaver, 1988). These global mea￾sures, however, may mask important contextual effects. In specific situations, self-disclosure of needs and desires should increase the likelihood that perceivers define the situation as diagnostic of partners’ sentiments. Therefore, following perceived self￾disclosure, perceivers should feel trust when partners behave in a responsive manner, but lack of trust when they behave in an unresponsive manner. Overview The conceptual model guiding the present research appears in Figure 1. According to this model, perceivers judge their own self-disclosure of needs and desires in accordance with their part￾ner’s responsive behavior, which includes underestimating disclo￾sure when the partner is unresponsive. This process should be stronger when perceivers highly value their relationship with the partner. In turn, given that perceived self-disclosure of needs and desires is thought to serve as a diagnosticity cue, underestimating disclosure should be directly related to perceiving the partner’s behavior as less diagnostic of the partner’s sentiments. We test these views in six studies. In Studies 1 and 2, using two different methodologies, we contrasted global perceptions of self-disclosure with perceptions of self-disclosure in specific situations character￾ized by target partners’ lack of responsiveness. Consistent with the large body of research suggesting that global self-disclosure has positive relationship consequences, we expected that motivated perceivers (i.e., perceivers who strongly value a relationship with targets) would claim high global self-disclosure. However, consis￾tent with our analysis of disclosure as diagnosticity, we expected that these perceivers would see lack of disclosure in situations characterized by targets’ lack of responsiveness. Furthermore, we expected that this pattern of high global self-disclosure and low self-disclosure in situations characterized by partners’ unrespon￾sive behavior would be associated with the most positive relation￾ship perceptions (i.e., reduced perceptions of diagnosticity of part￾ners’ unresponsive behavior and increased trust). In Study 3, we used a daily report study to test this model with regard to daily interactions between romantic partners. In Study 4, we tested the model using a behavioral observation study. In Studies 5 and 6, we experimentally manipulated desire to bond and reduction of threat, respectively, to test predictions regarding the motivational nature of this bias. Study 1: Perceptions of Hypothetical Events In Study 1, we compared perceivers’ global perceptions of self-disclosure of needs and desires with their perceptions of self-disclosure in unresponsive situations (those characterized by targets’ lack of responsiveness). This comparison is central to the distinction between prior research and theory on self-disclosure and the current model. As we described earlier, prior research reveals positive associations of relationship sentiments with global self-disclosure, suggesting that the existence or perception of global disclosure can maintain and enhance relationships. How￾ever, perceiving insufficient self-disclosure in unresponsive situa￾tions may undermine the diagnosticity of partners’ unresponsive behavior and therefore maintain trust in partners’ care and com￾mitment, a desirable outcome for perceivers who strongly value maintaining relationships with partners. Hence, perceivers who strongly value their partners should be much more likely to report more global self-disclosure (i.e., that they disclose generally) rel￾ative to self-disclosure in specific situations characterized by the partner’s unresponsive behavior. In addition, perceivers who strongly value their partners should report more global self￾disclosure in their relationships relative to perceivers who do not strongly value their partners. However, when with regard to unre￾sponsive situations, perceivers who value partners should perceive low disclosure, perhaps just as low as the disclosure perceived by those who do not value partners. This tendency to see low self￾disclosure in unresponsive situations should be associated with reduced perceptions of diagnosticity in these situations and more trust in partners’ care and commitment. In contrast, and consistent with prior research on the relational benefits of global self￾disclosure in most other contexts, global perceptions of self￾disclosure should be associated with positive relationship percep￾Partner's Level of + Responsiveness Perceived Self￾Disclosure of Needs and Desire Perceived Diagnosticity of Partner's Behavior Partner Valuing + + Figure 1. Conceptual model guiding the present research. This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. 40 LEMAY AND MELVILLE