THE EFFECTS OF SEX AND MACHIAVELLIANISM ON SELF-DISCLOSURE PATTERNS

This study was aimed at replicating the findings of an earlier study examining the effects of sex and machiavellianism on self-disclosure patterns. Of particular interest was the question of whether or not a significant sex-machiavellian interaction would reoccur. A sample of 166 males and females recruited from the introductory course in sociology were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing several dimensions of friendship relations. Measures of self-disclosure and machiavellianism were included in the questionnaire. As hypothesized, a significant sex-machiavellian interaction was observed. This significant interaction was interpreted to suggest that self-disclosure may be a manipulation strategy for females. If this is the case, current measures of machiavellianism are intensitive to the range of manipulative techniques used by females.