Race, Sex, Ordinal Position of Birth, and Self-Disclosure in High School Students

Abstract

The Jourard and Lasakow (1958) Self-disclosure Questionnaire was administered to 120 high school students in order to examine relationships of birth order, race, and sex to self-disclosure. Results indicated that later borns disclosed more than firstborns, whites disclosed more than Negroes, and mother was the favorite target person. Further, firstborn Negroes disclosed less than any other group, females disclosed most to mother and female friend while males disclosed least to female friend, firstborns disclosed most to mother, and whites disclosed more to father than Negroes. Results were discussed in relation to possible child-rearing practices affecting the meaningfulness of interpersonal relationships established by the various birth ranks.