The many minds problem: disclosure in dyadic versus group conversation. (February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cooney, Gus; Mastroianni, Adam M; Abi-Esber, Nicole; Brooks, Alison Wood
• Is Part Of: Current opinion in psychology. Volume 31(2020)
• Page Start: 22
• Page End: 27
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Subjects: Psychology -- Periodicals; 150.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.06.032
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-250X

Abstract

Highlights: Group conversation creates a many minds problem . Having many minds in a conversation impacts three basic features of conversation: (1) airtime, (2) turn-taking, and (3) listener feedback. These differences between dyadic and group conversation have important implications for disclosure. Specifically, the risk of disclosure, the amount that people disclose, disclosure content, and the disclosure strategies that people employ. Abstract : What causes people to disclose their preferences or withhold them? Declare their love for each other or keep it a secret? Gossip with a coworker or bite one's tongue? We argue that to understand disclosure, we need to understand a critical and often overlooked aspect of human conversation: group size. Increasing the number of people in a conversation creates systematic challenges for speakers and listeners, a phenomenon we call the many minds problem . Here, we review the substantial implications that group size is likely to have on how much people disclose, what they disclose, and how they feel about it.