The Message Design Logics of Responses to Depression Disclosure

• In Event: Should I Share This With You or Not? Disclosure and Avoidance Decisions, Strategies, and Responses

Abstract

This study uses the theory of message design logics to examine the relative sophistication of responses to disclosure of depression. Participants' responses to an imagined disclosure from a friend were coded as expressive, conventional, or rhetorical. We found that variation in the way depression is disclosed influenced the sophistication of the responses. Our discussion focuses on how different ways of managing identity in disclosure messages affect responses and possible implications for message design logic theory.

Authors

• Allison Scott, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

• John Caughlin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

• Sylvia Mikucki, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

• Erin Donovan-Kicken, University of Texas, Austin