| Although there is evidence to suggest that individuals self-disclose more over the Internet than face-to-face, this has largely been studied in the West. However, cultural research on differences in self-disclosure in coping with stressful situations implies that self-disclosure may not easily follow this Internet pattern in the East. As the Internet grows rapidly as a worldwide social phenomenon, understanding how individuals self-disclose and seek out help over the Internet can give insight into how social interaction may electronically develop. In this dissertation, I explore the effect of culture and the Internet on social support seeking and self-disclosure.;I have reviewed the current literature on cultural variations in social support seeking and the differences in the salience of public and private selves that might encourage more self-disclosure. Moreover, I have explored possible mechanisms behind increased self-disclosure over the Internet, one being the ability of medium to prime the public or private self. Based on these findings, two studies were conducted to assess the Internet and culture's effect on priming selves conducive to higher rates of self-disclosure and support seeking.;The first study explored the effect of medium (FtF vs. CMC) on differences between European Americans and Asian Americans in self-disclosure of a stressful situation as well as reported willingness to seek social support to cope with the stressor. European Americans confirmed previous online patterns, reporting willingness to seek social support more when over the Internet than face-to-face. There was no difference for Asian Americans as predicted.;The second study aimed to replicate findings in Study 1, provide a measure of private and public selves, and measure other possible mechanism responsible for the social support seeking and self-disclosure patterns, including interpersonal trust. European Americans self-disclosed more about a stressful situation online than face-to-face, and similarly to Study 1, Asian Americans did not differ in how much they self-disclosed by condition. However, there was no evidence that these findings could not be explained by the salience of different selves or increases in interpersonal trust. Implications of help seeking and self-disclosure online by culture, limitations, and future studies addressing relationship and gender differences are discussed. |
