Relational Mobility Explains Between- and Within-Culture Differences in Self-Disclosure to Close Friends

TLDR

The study investigates whether relational mobility explains why East Asians disclose less personal information to close friends than Westerners. Using two studies, the authors measured relational mobility and examined its mediating role in cross‑cultural and within‑cultural self‑disclosure to close friends. Results show that relational mobility mediates cross‑cultural differences and predicts within‑culture disclosure, with higher mobility linked to greater self‑disclosure as a social‑commitment device.

Abstract

In the current research, we tested a novel explanation for previously demonstrated findings that East Asians disclose less personal information to other people than do Westerners. We propose that both between- and within-culture differences in self-disclosure to close friends may be explained by the construct of relational mobility, the general degree to which individuals in a society have opportunities to form new relationships and terminate old ones. In Study 1, we found that cross-cultural differences (Japan vs. United States) in self-disclosure to a close friend were mediated by individuals’ perceptions of relational mobility. In Study 2, two separate measures of relational mobility predicted self-disclosure within a single culture (Japan), and this relationship was mediated by the motivation to engage in self-disclosure to strengthen personal relationships. We conclude that societies and social contexts higher in relational mobility (in which relationships can be formed and dissolved relatively easily) produce stronger incentives for self-disclosure as a social-commitment device.