What You Say and How You Say It: Analysis of Speech Content and Speech Fluency as Predictors of Judged Self-Disclosure

Self-disclosure (SD) in interpersonal interaction is essentially a verbal behavior. The present study focused on this behavior and examined how it is related to two other aspects of SD, namely, subjective SD and SD as judged by others (JSD). Participants were interviewed, and their recorded responses were presented to judges who rated their JSD levels. Analysis of speech content and speech fluency of participants’ responses significantly correlated with JSD but not with subjective SD. Regression analysis revealed that linguistic parameters provided good prediction of JSD, whereas self-reported SD measures failed to predict the judges’ ratings. These findings highlight the close relationship between linguistic measures and JSD while suggesting that the subjective SD is poorly correlated with these measures. Future research exploring the gap between subjective and judges SD may highlight situational factors that affect SD and pave the way for better understanding of the dynamics of SD in interpersonal interactions.