An Analysis of Desired Breadth and Depth of Disclosure in Psychotherapy and Medicine

This study investigated patients' desire for breadth and depth of disclosure from therapists and physicians. In line with the research on sex matching and mismatching in dyadic communication, we hypothesized that participants would desire more breadth and depth of disclosure from a therapist than from a physician, and that the female sex-matched condition would be associated with the highest levels of desired breadth and depth of disclosure, while the male sex-matched condition would endorse the lowest levels. We found that participants desired more breadth of disclosure from a physician and more depth of disclosure from a therapist. Contrary to the hypotheses, we found that female 'patients' desired more disclosure from male physicians and male therapists than from female professionals. Participants may be aware of the self-disclosure disparities between males and females and may have compensated by endorsing increased disclosure from the lower disclosing male professionals.