A study was conducted to examine self-disclosure as a relational control strategy in speech communication. Conversations of seven married couples were coded using L. E. Rogers-Millar's Relational Communication Control Coding Scheme and a self-disclosure coding system developed for the study. A message-by-message comparison of the codes from the two systems produced the following results: (1) intimate self-disclosure messages were typified by a one-up control move, (2) messages that preceded self-disclosure were characterized by either one-down or one-up control moves, and (3) with respect to the transaction, intimate self-disclosure was characterized by one-down complementarity and competitive symmetry. These results indicate that self-disclosure operates as a relational control strategy, complementing the structural and paralinguistic features of conversation that are usually considered "relational level" markers. (Author/RL)