Links between attachment orientations and dispositional and diary-based measures of disclosure in dating couples: A study of actor and partner effects

Issues concerning the influence of attachment characteristics on own and partner's disclosure were addressed using a sample of 113 couples in medium-term dating relationships. Individual differences in attachment were assessed in terms of relationship anxiety and avoidance. Disposition to disclose was assessed using questionnaire measures of self-disclosure, relationship-focused disclosure, and the ability to elicit disclosure from the partner; in addition, structured diaries were used to assess aspects of disclosure (amount, intimacy, emotional tone, and satisfaction) in the context of couples' everyday interactions. Couple-level analyses showed that avoidance strongly predicted dispositional measures of disclosure, whereas anxiety (particularly partner's anxiety) was related to negative evaluations of everyday interactions. Interactive effects of attachment dimensions and gender were also obtained, highlighting the complexity of communication behavior. The results are discussed in terms of the goals and strategies associated with working models of attachment.

Auditor conservatism and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from the Year 2000 systems issue

This study further examines the phenomenon of conservative auditor behaviour by considering the level of voluntary disclosure of Year 2000 remediation information in company annual reports. Previous studies have provided evidence of conservative auditor behaviour by examining the link between Big 6 auditor choice and accruals (Francis and Krishnan 1999; Becker et al., 1998; Defond and Subramanyam 1998). Protecting their reputation capital increases Big 6 auditor incentives to act conservatively to avoid litigation risk. We propose and find that Big 6 auditor clients disclose more Year 2000 remediation information than non–Big 6 auditor clients.

Voluntary disclosure of forward-looking earnings forecasts in Australia

This study examines the voluntary disclosure of future earnings information in annual reports for Australian listed companies. We find that most Australian companies in our sample do not provide quantitative earnings, forecasts in their annual reports, although more than half of the sample do disclose forward-looking information relating to earnings, without specifically disclosing point estimates for the future. These companies mostly supply qualitative information with a positive bias, while the remainder of the sample discloses no forward-looking information relating to earnings. Our findings also suggest that larger companies with less volatile earnings tend to provide more future earnings information than smaller companies with relatively volatile earnings.

Disclosure of proxy voting information by Australian managed investment schemes

The US Securities and Exchange Commission requires registered management investment companies to disclose how they vote proxies relating to portfolio securities they hold. The primary purpose of this rule is to enable fund investors to monitor the role of institutional shareholders in the corporate governance practices of public companies. In Australia, despite reform proposals, there are no regulations requiring institutional investors to report proxy voting procedures and practices. There is little evidence of voluntary disclosure of proxy voting by Australian managed investment schemes in equities, indicating that there are costs involved in such disclosure.

Consumer credit code disclosure: Does it work?

Since 1996 all consumer credit transactions in Australia have been regulated by the Consumer Credit Code. The principal means by which the Code purports to protect consumers and prevent market failure is a detailed and prescriptive disclosure regime. There has been little empirical work done on whether or not such disclosure actually improves consumers’ understanding of their credit contracts. By exposing participants to typical consumer credit documents, this research discovered quite poor comprehension of important features of the relevant transactions. Most significantly, there appeared to be little difference in comprehension when the consumers read contracts which complied with the disclosure requirements of the Code, and when they read contracts which did not. These results cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Code disclosure regime.

The role of avoidance coping in the disclosure of trauma

Little research has been undertaken to examine the empirical basis of commonly applied methods of posttrauma intervention. We propose that Pennebaker's work on structured disclosure of trauma provides a suitable analogue to explore questions of interest. The present study asks whether avoidance coping is likely to interfere with abbreviated disclosure of traumatic experiences. Subjects were 118 college students randomly allocated to either a one-session or four-session written trauma-disclosure condition. At 2 months postdisclosure, subjects with high avoidance coping within the one-session condition exhibited significantly more trauma-specific and physical symptoms than all other subjects. Avoidance coping significantly predicted trauma-specific symptoms at 2 months. These findings suggest that single session traumatic disclosure may not be useful for individuals with an avoidance style of coping.