To Conceal or Reveal: Identity-Conscious Diversity Ideologies Facilitate Sexual Minority Identity Disclosure

Abstract

Sexual minorities continue to face workplace discrimination, which leads to concerns about disclosing their sexual identities. Despite benefits of disclosing, relatively little research has examined what organizational factors foster disclosure of a sexual minority identity. Across five experiments (N = 1,662), sexual minorities were more willing to disclose in organizations with diversity messages conveying that they value group differences (an identity-conscious ideology) relative to those that downplay differences (an identity-blind ideology). Identity-blind ideologies also increased belonging and perceptions of fair treatment, although fair treatment was more plausible as a potential psychological mechanism. Despite expectations that contradictory evidence demonstrating a negative diversity climate (“diversity hypocrisy”) might create mistrust and impede disclosure, the benefits of diversity messages persisted even in the face of a negative diversity climate. These findings point to the complexities of facilitating visible sexual minority representation in many workplace environments.