The evaluational consequences of topic reciprocity and self‐disclosure reciprocity

Although numerous studies have examined the evaluative consequences of topic‐ or self‐disclosure reciprocity, none has examined the combined consequences of topic‐and self‐disclosure reciprocity. This study focuses on the combined evaluative consequences. It was hypothesized that messages which reciprocated both topic and intimacy would be more positively evaluated than messages which reciprocated only topic or intimacy. In turn, messages which reciprocated only topic or intimacy would be more positively evaluated than those reciprocating neither. An experimental study supported the hypothesis for initial low intimacy messages, and partially supported it for initial high intimacy messages. The results are examined in terms of competing interactional goals in a self‐disclosure context.