Opening up: New theory on the role of self-disclosure in organizations

Sometimes described as ‘opening-up’, self-disclosure, or the act of sharing personal/relevant information with another party is acknowledged in psychology as an important interpersonal behavior. Despite this evidence on the importance of self-disclosure, research on self-disclosure in organizations is sparse. In recent years there is rising interest in the study of self-disclosure in the workplace. Often viewed as a positive behavior to show goodwill, the effects of self-disclosure on organizational outcomes at various levels have received little empirical and theoretical attention from management scholars. This symposium explores the interpersonal and group effects of self-disclosure on employees at both the individual, interpersonal, and group levels. The symposium consists of four papers—one theory, two field studies, and one experimental study—that explore the effects of self-disclosure and its role in organizations. Specifically, the first paper offers new theoretical insights about the gendered effect of self-disclosure in the context of remote working and what that means for careers. Also fuelled by the use of remote working, the second paper investigates self-disclosure concerning individual leaders’ perceptions of loneliness. The third paper explores the effects of self-disclosing virtually, private medical information about suffering from remote work conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a group of colleagues. It uses experimental vignettes to investigate the potential benefits of virtual self-disclosure to a group of colleagues regarding private medical information. The final paper delves deeper into employees’ position to self-disclose. It examines the role of self-stigmatization in the relationship between employee mental health disease diagnoses and employee decisions to self-disclose. These papers advance our understanding of the effects of self-disclosure at various levels in organizations. We believe the symposium is a step toward uncovering the importance of self- disclosure and will encourage future research.