JOURNAL OF SOCIAL iSSUES VOLUME 33, NUMBER 3, zyxwvu 1977 zyxwvutsr Privacy and Self-Disclosure in Social Relationships Valerian J. Derlega and Alan L. Chaikin’ Old Dominion University Privacy is viewed as a process of boundary regulation, controlling how much (or how little) contact an individual maintains with others, Self-disclosure involves the verbal transmission of information. Adjust- ment of self-disclosure outputs and inputs is boundary regulation; the extent of control one maintains over this exchange of information contributes to the amount of privacy one has in a social relationship. Regulation of interpersonal boundaries affects the kinds of relationships we maintain with others (as in friendships and power relationships). There also are implications for personality functioning. Reconceptu- alizing self-disclosure as a form of boundary adjustment in the mainte- nance of privacy may provide a useful framework for integrating the self-disclosure literature. Much of the popular literature on privacy has been concerned with “invasions of privacy,” in which individuals’ personal lives are monitored against their wishes. In our view privacy represents control over the amount of interaction we choose to maintain with others. If one can choose how much or how little to divulge about oneself to another voluntarily, privacy is maintained. If another person can influence how much information we divulge about ourselves or how much information input we let in about others, a lower level of privacy exists. This manuscript was prepared while the first author was Visiting Professor at the University of Warsaw, Poland, under the support of the National Academy of Sciences. Thanks are due to Irwin Altman, Barbara Derlega, Adam Fraczek, Janusz Reykowski, Zick Rubin, and especially to Stephen T. Margulis, for comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Correspondence regarding this article may be addressed to V. J. Derlega, Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23508. ‘Sadly we must note here the death of Alan L. Chaikin in February, 1976, while this article was in preparation. 102