How Conversational Goals Predict Sexual Self-Disclosure Decisions

Communicating verbally about sexual topics is one aspect of sexual communication, and romantic partners have to choose whether to disclose sexual information. The present study used conversational goals – what one hopes to accomplish in the conversation – to examine how people decide whether or not to engage in sexual self-disclosure. In an online survey, romantically involved participants (n = 428) provided data on four conversational goals (instrumental, impression management, identity, and relational), disclosure efficacy, disclosure anxiety, and likelihood to sexually self-disclose. Mediation model results indicated that the instrumental goal was directly associated with greater likelihood to disclose while the impression management goal was directly associated with less likelihood to disclose. The instrumental, impression management, and relational goals were indirectly connected with the likelihood to sexually self-disclose as mediated by disclosure efficacy and anxiety. The results highlight the importance of considering conversational goals perspectives when studying communication about taboo topics. Implications for future research are discussed.