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China Media Research, 4(2), 2008, Ji & Lieber, Emotional Disclosure and Construction of the Poetic “Other”

Emotional Disclosure and Construction of the Poetic “Other” in a Chinese Online Dating Site

Pan Ji & Paul S. Lieber

University of South Carolina

Abstract: This study analyzed user profiles on a leading Chinese dating site (JIAYUAN.com) from the context of Altman and Taylor’s (1973) Social Penetration Theory. For this sample, emotions - the core of Altman and Taylor’s personality structure - were disclosed more than factual information in profiles. Moreover, the Chinese cultural mechanism of ‘poetic language’ was employed to facilitate the development of high cost-reward, online relationships. Finally, mode of verbal response - a feature correlated to relational orientation of profiles - explained adoption rates of poetic language. In lieu of these findings, this research argues that Altman and Taylor’s cost- reward ratio remains a dominant frame underlying online disclosure behavior. Still - and for this sample - cultural specific resources were better explained by local cultural value and/or its underlying constructs. [China Media Research. 2008; 4(2): 32-42]

Keywords: Online dating, Disclosure, Chinese culture, Social Penetration Theory

Introduction

“Asian values offer a language for claiming control over the interaction between Eastern traditions and the west’s emphasis on individualism, and they provide a cultural refuge from the regions driven toward rapid modernization” (Naisbitt, 1995).

The Internet is a powerful social tool, capable of

quickly uniting would-be strangers around shared backgrounds and/or interests. Still, the lack of prior familiarity inherent in Internet relationships requires a unique set of social rules to compensate. Online relationships must be deliberately constructed and sustained to both reduce social costs and achieve desired levels of social penetration and relational satisfaction.

Theoretically, this study employed Altman and Taylor’s (1973) idea of constant cost-reward analysis as a dominant frame to determine social penetration when dealing with strangers. Altman and Taylor’s personality structure model details the sequence of social penetration on an individual level, likewise the role cultural specificity plays as a boundary-keeping mechanism. While Altman highlighted cost-reward analysis as the dominant factor for self-disclosure, the adoption of specific cultural resources are better explained by collective cultural values and their emphasis on joint relationships versus individual personality.

Extending Altman and Taylor’s cost-reward concept to online situations requires a reframing of passive, social penetration norms to more active methods of self-disclosure. This research argues that for

active self-disclosure to yield maximum relational rewards (with online strangers) and minimize costs, elements at the core of Altman and Taylor’s personality model – e.g. emotion, needs and wishes - are disclosed more often in online profiles than is basic, factual information.

This research simultaneously explored cost and rewards accompanying the cultural resource of Chinese poems. In specific, whether a) Altman and Taylor’s individualistic personality model or b) relationship nature and derivatives better predict the use of Chinese poems in the profiles of an online dating site.

These aims were accomplished via testing three related hypotheses and one research question. First, this research hypothesized a correlation between disclosure in Altman and Taylor’s personality structure model and information in the profiles of a Chinese online dating site. Second, that the majority of these profiles would adopt culture-based resources, e.g. poetic language. Third, this same majority would orient toward collectivist constructions of an ideal relationship versus those of self. Finally, the level of information in Altman and Taylor’s model or mode of social address better predicts the use of poems within profiles.

Conceptualization and Hypotheses Social Penetration Theory

Altman and Taylor (1973) proposed a social penetration theory to represent “sets of ideas as to how people go about mutual exploration and formation of social bonds.” As seen in Figure 1, Altman and Taylor offered a model of personality structure as the object for social penetration in offline, interpersonal interaction.

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C: Biographic Characteristic

B: Expectation, attitude,

opinion

A: Value, feeling, need

Figure 1. Altman and Taylor’s Personality Structure Altman and Taylor reasoned that the establishment

of close relationships is a gradual process from non- intimate contact in the rim to cores of personality structure. Specifically, social penetration starts from access to biographic information, and proceeds to opinion, attitudes and expectation. When cost and reward assessments support further penetration, interactants would approach the core of the personality structure and share feelings, values and needs.

Several implications can be derived from Altman and Taylor’s scenario. First, as Altman and Taylor stated, the deeper the penetration becomes, both potential costs and benefits increase exponentially; hence more boundary regulation mechanisms are employed. This relates to Altman and Taylor’s discussion of privacy as a social-psychological process involving culture-specific boundary regulation mechanisms (Altman & Taylor, 1973). Depending on the purpose and the particular situation, individuals or groups could employ gatekeeping mechanisms to create the optimum level of social penetration. For this study, the unit of analysis was individual user profiles of a Chinese online dating site (JIAYUAN.com), framed from the context of real and potential relational structures. For these users, increased resistance to social penetration at the start of a relationship would suggest a necessity to employ shared cultural resources to move past this point and toward the core of Altman and Taylor’s model.

Also, Altman and Taylor believed that individuals can actively “open up,” or be penetrated gradually in social interaction. This contrasts with passive penetration laden with interferences (Allen, 1988; Etzioni, 1999; Margulis, 2003), stimulus overload (Milgram, 1970), intrusions (Schwartz, 1968) and/or interference and limited decision options (Jourard, 1966). This study analyzed Altman and Taylor’s “open up” notion within a cultural and technologically centric (online) environment.

Related, Altman and Taylor’s “open up” implies a selective and dynamic process to reach an optimal level of penetration for contextualized purposes. Mechanisms for regulating boundaries to achieve the optimal are

provided by local expressive resources (Goffman, 1959). For example, Goffman’s study of mental patients found total penetration led to death and/or humiliation. Thus while limits on penetration are a cultural universal, their manifestations can be culture-specific. Borrowing from Goffman and for this study, Chinese cultural values (shared emphasis on relationship, cultural resources of poetic expression) were examined as potential conduits to facilitate the accelerated disclosure of core information in an online setting

Finally, Altman and Taylor also assumed that people constantly assess perceived rewards and costs before subsequent penetration attempts to another’s personality structure. Petronio (2002) argued that people depend on a rule-based boundary system to manage the level of accessibility.

For online environments, existing cost-reward research is limited primarily to analysis of electronic commerce. Online service users divulge personal information, or actively allow further penetration, after a certain level of trust has been negotiated between users and Internet marketers (Chen & Rea, 2004). Furthermore, users’ concerns about excessive penetration and the manner in which a company deals with user privacy determine trust level in a website (Metzger, 2004).

This study aimed to extend this research into the socially powered world of online dating. Studies about self-disclosure in online dating environments and the effect of cultural values to achieve optimum cost-benefit ratio are few and far between. Cost -Reward of Online Dating

The cost and rewards associated with the Chinese dating website JIAYUAN (www.jiayuan.com) is typical of such sites. JIAYUAN, founded in Oct 2003, has a large user base of 9,570,000 (retrieved on Dec 11, 2007) featuring members from all the provinces in China, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. This diversity allows for more variation in individualities and demographic characteristics. Also, JIAYUAN has

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relatively strict excluding mechanisms and its users are relatively well educated. (Retrieved on Dec 11, 2007, 67% of its users have college degrees and 33% have graduate degrees) Finally, a credibility scale based on the provision of photo IDs is used to ensure authenticity of users. With these mechanisms in place, JIAYUAN users are arguably more likely to disclose relevant behavior and true intent within their profiles. In turn, there is a greater likelihood of establishing close relationships.

Existing research confirms the correlation between optimal levels of penetration and the establishment and maintenance of personal relationships. Rachels (1975) discovered a connection between “our ability to control who has access.

Failure to prevent undesired penetration indicates loss of psychological control (Altman & Taylor, 1973), and engenders stress, negative feedback about personal competence and relationship (Johnson & Lobitz, 1974).

Referenced earlier, social penetration theory (Altman & Taylor, 1973) regards disclosure of private information as one of the key factors contributing to the development of satisfying interpersonal relationships. Self-disclosure, this theory holds, leads to relational intimacy and satisfaction (Altman & Taylor, 1973).

This finding was confirmed cross-culturally. Disclosure of private information was associated with online relationship development for Americans, Japanese and Koreans alike (Yum, 2006), thus making the link between relationship development and regulated penetration culturally universal for these populations.

However, potential costs associated with online disclosure are many. Online dating environments lack reference systems to determine optimum disclosure levels. Online users seeking satisfactory personal relationships in cyberspace do so with little confirmatory resources (Scott, 1998); the Internet is ambiguous about privacy in spheres other than the truly intimate (Nissenbaum, 1998, 2004). With limited cues available, uncertainty is high about: a) the characteristics of interactants; b) behavioral norms; c) rules governing relationships and d) attribution and interpretation of certain behaviors in interaction (Berger & Calabrese, 1975; Parks & Adelman, 1983).

Moreover, because of the ironic combination of undiscriminating access and lasting traces archived online, personal information can be exploited to specify attributes of even anonymous individuals. For Chinese – the population analyzed in this study - disclosure of private information to strangers, especially personal emotions, has a negative cultural connotation equating to emotional incompetence. Thus for these individuals, factual (versus emotional) information is preferred at the early stages of face-to-face relationship development (Ting-Toomey, 1988). This research aimed to gauge the impact of an online setting in lieu of these cultural

norms. In specific, online environments trump cultural fears, empowering these individuals toward earlier emotional disclosure in their dating profiles.

Cultural nuances aside – and assuming rational cost-reward assessment guides active “open-up” of online users to strangers --it’s only when the perceived rewards outweigh costs in an online setting that the process of information sharing and relationship development will proceed (Altman & Taylor, 1973). Thus conflicting, simultaneous appeals to initiate a close relationship and minimize vulnerabilities are often a delicate social skills tightrope (Archea, 1977; Bellman, 1981). Early Disclosure of Feeling, Value and Needs

This tightrope is heavily contingent on timing. Existing research finds that the disclosure of core personal information (feeling, value, needs) at the start of an online encounter could yield relational rewards only available later in offline interactions with strangers. These persons are also more apt to make better decisions about dating in general (Gibbs, Ellison, & Heino, 2006).

Not surprisingly, individuals reveal more feelings within an intimate relationship than in interactions with perceived strangers or mere acquaintances (Dindia, Fitzpatrick, & Kenny, 1997). Conversely, however, those who engage in more intentional self-disclosure (especially personal emotions) are also more likely to enable “deal breakers” to emerge before the first fact-to- face meeting.

Experiments in this area conclude self-disclosure increases relational intimacy through the mediating variable of partner responsiveness (Laurenceeau, Feldman Barret & Pietromonaco, 1998). An emotional involvement is triggered in the dating partner, which in turn leads the initial discloser to feel understood and validated in close relationships (Reise & Shaver, 1996; Rubin, Hill, Peplau, & Dunkel-Schetter, 1980). Revealing emotional and private information about oneself conveys trust and liking for the partner, plus commitment to increased intimacy in the relationship (Altman & Taylor, 1973; Collins & Wilder, 1994; Derlega, Metts, Petronio, & Margulis, 1993).

Moreover, costs are also reduced through online emotion disclosure. The disclosure of emotion online, unlike purely factual biographic information, prevents strangers from specifying anonymous users and exploiting their personal information in offline settings. To explain, it is arguably more difficult to tie emotion, value and needs specifically to an anonymous person than factual, biographic content.

To summarize, based on the cost-reward analysis above, online self-disclosure of feelings, values and needs (at the core of Altman and Taylor’s (1973) personality structure) promote partners’ emotional

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involvement and the development of close interpersonal relationship. This method of disclosure also minimizes the possibility for third parties to specify anonymous users plus relieves Chinese cultural embarrassment of emotional disclosure to strangers in face-to-face (F2F) settings. Therefore it is hypothesized that rather than becoming the last layer penetrated in Altman and Taylor’s (1973) personality structure model, emotion, values and needs are disclosed more early and frequently within JIAYUAN user profiles. This, in turn, would be the reverse flow hypothesized by Altman and Taylor for FSF settings. Hence:

H1a. For JIAYUAN users, there is more disclosure of feelings, values and needs (Altman and Taylor and Taylor’s innermost circle) than opinion, expectation and attitudes (Altman and Taylor’s second circle). (Figure 1)

H1b. For JIAYUAN users, the amount of disclosure about opinion, expectation and attitude (Altman and Taylor’s second circle) exceeds the disclosure of factual information (Altman and Taylor’s outermost circle). (See Figure 1) Poetic Expression: Cultural Resource for a Better Reward-Cost Ratio

Alluded to earlier, the deeper the penetration in Altman and Taylor’s model, the greater both potential costs and rewards accompanying it. Thus, active, early disclosure of information deep inside the personality structure – a trend hypothesized to occur often in online

relationships - creates larger relational stakes from the very beginning.

Akin to offline interactions, cultural resources can likewise be transplanted online to handle this riskier start. Existing, shared cultural values and mechanisms can serve as buffers for these situations, commonalities to ease higher costs while creating benefits. This is an essential distinction for a website featuring members who arguably value such cultural assets.

Most research on Chinese shared values and mechanisms separates these assets into two distinct dichotomies: individualism/collectivism and high- context/low-context cultures (Hofstede, 1980; Hall, 2000; Gudykunst, 1996). In contrast, Fei’s concentric model of Chinese interpersonal relationship (Fei, 1948) accentuates the importance of the familial relationship to Chinese personalities. This model hints at the influence of relationship on adoption of cultural mechanisms to convey emotions outside the “thick” boundary around the “family/self”—two points very relevant to the current study. Fei said:

“Individuals in a Western society are akin to wooden sticks, which maybe bound together by their social organizations in a bundle. The structure of Chinese society is like ripples, each individual is situated at the center of a set of rings, extending to the edges of that person’s social influence…This structure does not reflect individualism, it reflects egoism (pp. 24-27).”

Self/family

Figure 2. Fei’s Differential Order of Chinese Society

This model (Figure 2) indicates that within Chinese culture, individuals identify themselves tightly with family, around which a strong sense of “we” is formed. Individual identification with the family is so strong, that a line between the collective “we,” as the family and the general “others,” or non-family members, is meticulously kept. Using Altman and Taylor’s language, while the Chinese allow penetration into the collective personality of one’s family members, individuals take great efforts to limit non-family member’s access to these same personality structures. Thus when circumstances demand non-family members to share personal information (i.e. create personal ties, carry out social activities), protective mechanisms (i.e. indirectness, innuendos or physical isolation) are applied to prevent further penetration.

Studies uncovered the existence of various protection mechanisms to regulate the sharing of personal information with strangers in Eastern culture. A direct and open (low context) communication style is expected in individualistic cultures, whereas indirectness and restraint in self-disclosure (high-context communication style) are desirable in collective cultures (Gudykunst & Nishida, 1986). Individualists tend to disclose more than collectivists (Chen, 1995). By using scales meant to conceptualize the difference between high-context and low-context communication, Gudykunst et al. (1996) identified Eastern communication (high-context) to be indirect, ambiguous, reserved and understated. In contrast, Western communication was identified as direct, precise, dramatic, open, and based on feelings and true intentions.

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Chinese Poems

Among the protective mechanisms employed, poetic language is widely used to reveal one’s self to strangers and optimize the cost-reward ratio without arousing suspicion or confusion. Historically, poems are China’s preferred method to communicate personal emotions to non-family members. They carry positive implications of cultivation and propriety to people citing them, as the ability to recite and compose poems is respected as a sign of education and talent. Traditionally, these poems’ capacity to convey emotions and feelings make it a popular way to establish friendships between unknown intellectuals or, more often, lovers who are culturally not allowed to interact directly. A Chinese poem’s ambiguity for multiple interpretations allows the sender to manipulate meaning of the disclosure to avoid embarrassment and further reduce vulnerabilities to exploitation by third parties. Though not much empirical research is done in this regard, if viewed from the perspective of active self- disclosure and the development of relationships, poems serve as a mechanism to allow for disclosure of core information to non-family members in Chinese culture.

Extending this research to online dating, although people from different cultures reveal more online than in a F2F situation (Kim & Raja, 1991; Ma & Louis 2006), poetic expressions are still employed to facilitate the development of online relationships. These poetic expressions help: a) buffer the ambiguity of online environments; b) limit embarrassment associated with emotional disclosure in Eastern cultures (Ting-Toomey, 1988); c) decrease the likelihood of information exploitation; and d) produce a positive first impression and desired cost-reward ratio. A preliminary pre-test of a convenient sample (n=20) from JIAYUAN profiles confirmed poetry as a preferred method of communication on the site.

Based on the above, this research hypothesized that: H2a. The majority of JIAYUAN profiles will

feature poetic language. Related – and in lieu of the assumptions made by

Figures 1 (Altman and Taylor’s Personality Structure Model) and 2 (Fei’s Concentric Model), the following research question is simultaneously raised:

RQ1. What factor better predicts the use of poetic language: relationship type or level of penetration?

This question seeks to explore which – if any – of the two models explains interaction patterns on JIAYUAN. Construction of Ideal Relationship

Research on Western, online dating sites found that to reconcile the conflicting needs for positive self presentation and accuracy, users create profiles that describe a potential future version of self (Ellison, Heino, & Gibbs, 2006; Higgins, 1987; Reis & Shaver,

1988), an enhanced “ideal self” (Goffman, 1959). In contrast - and as the use of poems can attest to -

the Chinese are more self-conscious of relational structures than their Western counterparts. Existing studies argue that individuals in collective cultures tend to be inter-dependent with others and will usually build up a network of deep-rooted relationships and personal loyal ties (Wurtz, 2006). Responsibility, communalism and consensus, harmony, filial piety, respect for authority and order are among these Pan-Asian values (Hauvel & Dennis, 1993; Okihiro, 1988; Xu, 1998, 2000).

Moreover, the positive correlation between relational self-conception and the development of close relationships also adds to potential rewards. Scholars found that individuals with high relational self construal will be more likely to behave in ways that create, maintain, and enhance closeness with others due to empathic decision-making (Cross, Bacon, & Morris, 2000). When relational self- construal is either activated (Cross & Morris, 2002) or primed (Stapel & Koomen, 2001), individuals can form a sense of connection with the other (Mikulincer, Orbach, & Iavnieli, 1998). A study of college roommate relationships concluded that relational self-construal is positively associated with emotional disclosure. People with highly relational self- construal tend to also develop higher quality close relationships (Gore, Cross, & Morris, 2006).

Based on Chinese cultural norms and borrowing from Fei’s concentric model, this research hypothesized:

H3a. More JIAYUAN users will construct an ideal relationship in their profile versus self

Furthermore, since there is neither a replacement of family nor a strongly identified “we” in the JIAYUAN online dating environment, this research speculated disclosures dedicated to constructing an “ideal relationship” are correlated with the type of verbally constructed relationships, manifested by mode of address. To measure the mode of JIAYUAN profiles, this study employed Stiles’ (1979) Taxonomy of Verbal Response modes. It includes four modes, namely

1. Edification: objective information in a declarative approach, usually associated with third person or second person;

2. Disclosure: revealing of inner experience or viewpoints in single first person;

3. Confirmation: the expression of joint thought and similarity of experience in first person plural;

4. Advisement: command, advice in imperative or second person with verbs of permission, prohibition or obligation.

Based on the above exposition, the final two research hypotheses:

H3b. Relationship orientation is correlated with mode of address. In specific, self-disclosures involving construction of an ideal relationship are associated with

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China Media Research, 4(2), 2008, Ji & Lieber, Emotional Disclosure and Construction of the Poetic “Other”

the Confirmation mode of verbal response.

H3c. Disclosures to construct an ideal self are significantly associated with the Edification mode in this same taxonomy.

These two related hypotheses, if confirmed, argue that JIAYUAN users are more relationship oriented in their self-disclosure. Moreover, these same users verbally construct an ideal “we” in their relationship- oriented profiles due to the absence of confirmatory cues and references.

Method Sampling and Reliability

The authors employed JIAYUAN’s “advanced search” option to locate the sampling frame. First the authors identified males and females from Shanghai age 20-25 plus those with a college education (retrieved on Dec 27, 2007). Then the authors ordered the sampling frame according to how recently a user last logged onto the site. This second step was intended to weed out inactive users while placing a premium on a sample actively involved in initiating an online relationship. Then 50 females and 50 males at the top of the ordered sampling frame were selected. The same procedure was carried out to locate 50 males, and 50 females from Beijing, totaling a complete sample of n=200 (100 male, 100 female). User profiles comprised both the sampling unit and unit of analysis.

Both intra and inter-coder reliability checks were performed for mode, objectivity and frame; three of the most subjective variables in the analysis.

The authors coded 25 profiles from the sample of 200, using systematic sampling technique with a skip interval of 8. One week later, the authors recoded the same profiles. The percentage of agreement for mode was .82, agreement for objectivity .76, frame .86.

Inter-coder reliability for mode was .77 percent, .81 for objectivity and .81 for frame. The average percentage agreement was .78. Variables

Seven variables were coded for each profile, including:

• Gender • Location (as registered on JIAYUAN, i.e.

Beijing or Shanghai) • Content type (three levels according to Altman

and Taylor’s model, namely: factual

information; expectation, opinion and values; emotion, wishes and feelings)

• Use of poems (coded as a dummy variable, whether user employed poems in his/her profile)

• Poem type (four types of poetic language employed among the poetic profiles, including ancient Chinese poem, modern simplified Chinese poem, lyrics from pop songs, and quasi- poems composed by the JIAYUAN user)

• Mode (using Stiles’ four Taxonomies of Verbal Response: Edification, Disclosure, Confirmatory and Advisement)

• Frame (ideal self-oriented or ideal relationship- oriented, both depicting an idealized future relationship)

Findings

Of the 200 profiles sampled, there was more content related to self-disclosure of emotion, feelings and needs (52%) than of expectations, attitudes and opinions (37.5%). Moreover, profile content containing factual, biographical information (10.5%) was less than that related to expectation, attitude and opinion. Hence H1a and H1b were supported. To elaborate: for this sample of JIAYUAN users, emotional disclosure occurred more often than opinion, likewise more frequently than factual disclosure at early development stages of these online relationships. Frequency distribution mirrored the pre-test, with a majority of profiles adopting some form of poetic language (60%). About 80 percent of these were quasi-poems composed by users themselves. Hence H2a was also supported.

Related, Edification (31.5%) and Disclosure (54.5%) emerged as the two major modes (of Stiles’ Taxonomy) employed by JIAYUAN users. About eighty percent (78.5%) of the profiles analyzed were relationship oriented. Hence, H3a was also supported. In specific, more JIAYUAN users adopted a relationship- oriented versus ideal self approach within their profiles.

To address RQ1, a multinomial logistic regression model was constructed to identify factors potentially accounting for poetic use within profiles. Poem use was coded as a binary variable (0=plain language, 1=poetic language used). In the model, the authors regressed five categorical variables on the dependent variables (poem use). The results of the first regression on poem use are reported in Tables 1-3.

Table 1: Model Fitting Information a

Model Model fitting criteria -2 Log Likelihood Chi-Square df Sig.

Intercept Only 153.833 Final 105.065 48.768 8

.000**

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China Media Research, 4(2), 2008, Ji & Lieber, Emotional Disclosure and Construction of the Poetic “Other”

**p<.01The chi-square statistic is the difference in -2 log-likelihoods between the final model and a reduced model. The reduced model was formed by omitting an effect from the final model. The null hypothesis was that all parameters of that effect are 0. a This reduced model is equivalent to the final model, as omitting the effect does not increase the degrees of freedom. Table 2: Likelihood Ratio Tests a

Effect Model Fitting Criteria Likelihood Ratio Tests

-2 Log Likelihood of Reduced Model Chi-Square df Sig.

Intercept 105.065(a) .000 0 . Sex 105.591 .526 1 .468 Location 105.078 .012 1 .912 Frame 105.831 .766 1 .382 Mmode 141.959 36.894 3 .000** Content Type 107.969 2.904 2 .234

**p<.01 The chi-square statistic is the difference in -2 log-likelihoods between the final model and a reduced model. The reduced model was formed by omitting an effect from the final model. The null hypothesis was that all parameters of that effect are 0. a This reduced model is equivalent to the final model, as omitting the effect does not increase the degrees of freedom . Table 3: Parameter Estimates

Poem use a B Std. Error Wald df Sig. Exp(B) Plain language Intercept .920 1.189 .598 1 .439 Sex -.241 .332 .526 1 .468 .786 Location -.037 .333 .012 1 .912 .964 [frame=.00] .369 .422 .764 1 .382 1.446 [frame=1.00] 0 . . 0 . . [mode=1.00] -3.153 1.230 6.571 1 .010** .043 [mode=2.00] -.817 1.178 .481 1 .488 .442 [mode=3.00] -1.828 1.252 2.132 1 .144 .161 [mode=4.00] 0 . . 0 . . [contyp b

=1.00 .926 .585 2.503 1 .114 2.525

[contyp =2.00 .340 .361 .888 1 .346 1.405 [contyp =3.00 0 . . 0 . .

**p<.01 a The reference category is: poem used. b contyp = Content Type

Overall, mode was the only significant predictor of

the likelihood of poems being used. The partial regression coefficient of mode was -3.153, -.817 and - 1.828 for Edification, Disclosure and Confirmation, respectively. The OR for mode was .043, .442 and .161

for Edification mode, Disclosure mode, and Confirmatory mode, respectively. Further, bivariate analyses indicated that poems were more likely to be employed in Stiles’ Edification mode (88.9%). For this sample, 70.8% of the profiles in Confirmatory mode

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China Media Research, 4(2), 2008, Ji & Lieber, Emotional Disclosure and Construction of the Poetic “Other”

used poems, 42.2% of Disclosure mode, but only 25% of profiles in advisement mode.

This trend suggests that content type, or the level of information in Altman and Taylor’s (1973) personality structure model, was not a significant predictive factor for poetic use. Still, mode emerged as a significant

factor accounting for the adoption of poems, with Edification mode containing the greatest levels of poetic language use.

To test H3b and H3c a chi-square test was done between mode and frame. Results follow in Table 4.

Table 4: Chi-Square Tests

Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 11.772 3 .008** Likelihood Ratio 16.611 3 .001** Linear-by-Linear Association .107 1 .744

N of Valid Cases 200 **p<.01

Results uncovered a significant correlation between frame and mode (p<.01). Also, for the profiles emphasizing construction of ideal self, Stile’s (1979) Disclosure mode increased accompanied by a complete absence of Confirmation mode. In contrast, for profiles emphasizing construction of ideal relationships, there was more use of Confirmation and Edification modes but less of Disclosure. Thus, H3b and H3c were not supported.

Conclusion and Discussion

The confirmation of the first two research hypotheses suggests that Altman and Taylor’s order of information sharing in the initial stages of a relationship might be reversed in online environments. JIAYUAN users tended to open up faster, yielding relational benefits associated with sharing deeper emotions. This not only hints at the possibility of cyberspace fostering a more emotional reality, it also suggests that a constant, cost-reward analysis powers emotional disclosure decisions.

For this sample of Chinese online daters, relational disclosure orientation trumped Westernized emphasis on individual self, thus confirming H3a. This finding supports notions of cultural collectivism compensating for relational uncertainty often inherent in the ambiguity of online social environments. On a more abstract level - and useful for future research in this area - Chinese collectivist culture arguably nurtures social rewards online. Online preference toward ideal relationship (versus self) not only maximizes social benefit, it also confirms the cultural specificity in the penetration process Altman and Taylor (1973) alluded to in their theory.

Additionally, this preference toward ideal relationship was associated with Stile’s (1979) heavier use of Confirmatory and Edification modes of verbal response, subsequently a good predictor of poetic language adoption. Mode versus content type (or depth

of penetration) of profiles emerged as the most relevant variable of regression analysis. To elaborate, Stiles’ Confirmatory mode emphasized “we” - the user together with his/her potential date - whilst the Edification mode featured a declarative approach directly labeling “significant other” in third or second person. This nuance arguably implies that mode - or type of verbally constructed ties with potential dates (be it third or first plural person) - better explains the use of poetic language than Altman and Taylor’s level of social penetration.

This trend simultaneously hints at the potency of Fei’s (1948) model in explaining the adoption of culture-specific expressive resources in an online setting. A verbally constructed relationship leads to the use of poetic language. This not only works as a protective mechanism but also idealizes and hastens the relationship. Poetic language can simultaneously address a potential date (as in Stiles’ Edification mode), and a verbally constructed “we” (as in Confirmatory mode).

Finally, this study also provided support for Altman and Taylor’s assumption that a constant cost-benefit analysis accounts for the decision to share personal information and/or develop relationships with strangers. As indicated by confirmation of the research hypotheses above, Altman and Taylor’s order of penetration, however, was reversed in this online setting. Inner feeling and opinion sharing preceded factual disclosure by JIAYUAN users. Altman and Taylor’s idea of cultural specificity was likewise confirmed by the large percentage of profiles devoted to constructing an ideal relationship versus self; tangible manifestation of Chinese cultural resources.

One critical research distinction lies tangentially to this outcome. While Altman and Taylor’s premise of cost and reward assessment proved a significant disclosure predictor for JIAYUAN users, cultural- centric mechanisms – in specific, poetic language –

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were better explained through assessment based on Chinese norms.

This higher order, cost reward assumption can prove invaluable to future research endeavors centered on online interactions. In specific, closer analyses of culture specific mechanisms can elucidate the value of such norms as communication tools. In the under- researched world of online social environments, establishing theoretical links between culture, communication and relationship building are vital if we are to truly create an extensive body of knowledge on this topic.

Correspondence to: Pan Ji or Paul S. Lieber, PhD University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC 29208 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] References

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