To Reveal or Conceal: Using Communication Privacy Management Theory to Understand Disclosures in the Workplace

Abstract

A sample of 103 full-time employees from various organizations and industries completed an online, open-ended survey to explore and understand the decisions people make to manage their private disclosures at work. Communication privacy management theory was used to understand the management of private information. Results indicate that core and catalyst criteria motivate people to reveal/conceal at work, such as boundary maintenance based on organizational culture, relational considerations, a desire for feedback, and risk/benefit considerations. People also used implicit/ explicit rules, reiteration of privacy rules, and retaliation to limit and respond to turbulence. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed along with limitations and directions for future research.

Privacy Rule Decision Criteria: An Examination of Core and Catalyst Criteria that Shape Disclosures in the Work-Spouse Relationship

“…With regard to privacy, Carmon et al (2013) underscored how coworker relationships are based on the sharing of private information. Likewise, Smith and Brunner (2017) argued that disclosure among coworkers is powerful in "building feelings of friendship, community, and a sense of family at work" (p. 434). Further, these scholars argued that trust in workplace relationships and "organizational culture shapes the environment either in favor of, or against, disclosures" (p. 439).…”

“…CPM has been used as a framework to understand various workplace phenomena including privacy rule decision criteria used by coworkers to selfdisclose, the implicit and explicit establishment of rules to coordinate privacy boundaries, strategies to manage privacy turbulence (Smith & Brunner, 2017), peer coworker communication, and workers' health, productivity, and organizational functioning (Ploeger-Lyons & Kelley, 2017). Additionally, researchers have examined the ways organizations, employees, and coworkers describe electronic monitoring and the privacy expectations, boundaries, and turbulence that arise from this surveillance (Allen et al, 2007); Facebook friend requests among coworkers (Frampton & Child, 2013); individual and group identity construction as a result of an organizations' withholding or obscuring information (Bean, 2017); and employees' attempts to manage health information at work (Westerman et al, 2017).…”

“…More recently, Smith and Brunner (2017) explored the core criteria individuals used to inform their decisions surrounding the disclosure of private information with coworkers. These scholars argued that organizational culture and relational considerations (i.e., trust of coworkers) were core criteria that motivated people to reveal or conceal private information at work.…”

To Come Out or Not to Come Out: Minority Religious Identity Self-Disclosure in the United States Workplace

“…Despite an extensive body of literature, research on self-disclosure in the workplace has been limited to health and sexual orientation (Smith & Brunner, 2017). To our knowledge, this is the first study that explored variables associated with the disclosing of minority religious identities in the U.S. workplace.…”

“…Age. This study responded to Smith and Brunner's (2017) call to examine the influence of age on disclosing private information and indicated that older workers were significantly more likely to disclose their minority religious identities than younger workers. Consistent with previous studies (Dougherty et al, 2011), older workers in this study scored high on the religious centrality scale, which may explain why they disclosed their minority religious identities at work more often than did younger workers.…”