A phenomenological analysis of self-disclosure within online dating among young adults and middle adults

• Main Authors: Detera, Mariane Dominique Gabriel P, Siy, Lloyd Kevin M., Vitug, Czarina Marie O.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2015
• Subjects: Self-disclosure; Online dating; Dating (Social customs) > Computer network resources; Interpersonal relations > Computer network resources; Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/11343
• Institution: De La Salle University

Self-disclosure is a way for individuals to reveal themselves through online or offline personas. The objective of the study is to know more about the lived experience of individuals as they appear in the context of online dating. The study had two middle adults and six young adult samples. Purposive sampling was used to get participants who passed up to the qualifications. Such can be explained through asking the following questions, how much do people disclose online, (1) will self-disclosure and behaviors differ significantly by their developmental stage, 2) when adults, whether young or middle adulthood are put into a situation that calls for self-disclosure, do both genders demonstrate the capacity to disclose, 3) does self-disclosure differentially affect the breadth and depth of self-disclosure exhibited by online daters? Interpretative phenomenological analysis is used to interpret the data that was gathered. The themes that emerged are self-presentation, sense of risk awareness, coherency between information disclosed and relationship goals and needs, and trust building. Online daters disclosed not at first instances but rather through a process, by which the following are, constant communication, trust building, authenticity, direct specific goals, self-invested. Disclosure is important for online dating as this gives a settlement for both parties to observe and look up for. In the end, middle adults showed more depth that the young adults in their manner of self-disclosure.