Sharing through self-disclosure: Conceptualizations and measurement in organizations

Self-disclosure is sharing personal information with another party, which is recognized in psychology as a behavior that acts as a vehicle promoting well-being. Recently, self-disclosure studies in the organizational context have gained increasing prominence. Yet, a classifi cation of the variety of possibleself-disclosure in this setting and the eff ects of self-disclosure on organizational outcomes at the diff erent levels of analysis (i.e., individual, interpersonal,and group levels) have received relatively little empirical and theoretical attention from management scholars. This symposium explores various types ofself-disclosure, including disclosure of multi-racial identity, disclosure of personal weaknesses, disclosure of a miscarriage, and disclosure of holdingmultiple jobs. The exploration takes place across very diff erent contexts. The symposium presents fi ve papers – one conceptual review/model, oneexperimental study, one qualitative study, and two survey studies – examining diff erent types of self-disclosure and its eff ects as well as its role inorganizations across levels. Specifi cally, the fi rst paper discusses new theoretical insights into the role of self-disclosure in fostering fl uidity for multiracialindividuals. Also, based on the idea of disclosing information perceived as a weakness, the second paper explores the infl uence of congruence betweenthe level of self-disclosure wanted and received by followers on trust felt by followers. The third paper investigates the role of virtual disclosure of privatemedical information related to remote work conditions during the pandemic to a group of colleagues. The fourth paper delves into female employee’sposition to self-disclosure. It identifi es the diff erent miscarriage disclosure decision-making paths women experience. The fi nal paper examines the roleof multiple jobholder disclosure on employees’ psychological well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and job stress) through a sense of authenticity andattention residue or the attention multiple job workers give to these jobs. These papers feature myriad types of self-disclosures in organizations to clarifythe conceptualization and measurement of self-disclosure. We believe this symposium is an important step towards encouraging scholars to consider“opening up” conceptualizations and measurement of self-disclosure in organizations, which are representative and inclusive of individual experiences –ultimately important for fostering conditions of individual potential for innovation in the workplace.