Selective disclosure at work
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) employees are at an increased risk of being socially excluded, harassed, and discriminated against in the workplace. They therefore face disclosure decisions (decisions about whether, and if so, how, to whom, when, where, and why to share their sexual identity - "coming out of the closet"), which can have both costs and benefits. This is a complicated process, which is informed by individual (psychological) as well as contextual (organizational) factors. Understudied so far is the influence of interpersonal (relational) factors in this process, which is what is studied in this dissertation. Based on interviews with LGB employees in three organizations, complemented by data from a vignette survey, I show how both characteristics of interaction partners as well as of the relationship the LGB employee has with them play a role in disclosure decisions.