The Effects of Self-Disclosure in the Workplace: The Moderating Effect of Status (Gender and Leader/Follower)

The present study investigated the effects of individuals’ self-disclosure with two discrete emotions on others’ attributions of warmth/competence, and in turn on their trust and intentions to perform affiliative citizenship behavior. Although the importance of disclosing behavior referring to self in an organizational context has been acknowledged by practitioners, few studies have explored its potential impact as an influential tool for building and maintaining healthy and productive relationships among people in the workplace. Recognizing the importance of self-disclosure in interpersonal relationships, this study explored whether what individuals disclose to others (i.e., personal issue with sadness or anger) and their status (gender or leader/follower position) interact to affect others’ attributions of warmth and competence. Moreover, this research examined the effects of individuals’ attributions of warmth/competence toward the self-disclosing individuals on their trust and affiliative citizenship behavior intention. The results of two studies (Study 1 and Study 2) supported the significant, but negative effects of self-disclosure on competence. With sadness, self-disclosure was found to negatively affect competence attributions while self-disclosure with anger showed a positive relationship (for men). This study also found significant results supporting the role of gender and leader/follower status in altering the relationships between self-disclosure with sadness/anger and warmth/competence attributions. Finally, warmth and competence showed positive relationships with their hypothesized outcomes. Based on these results, the present study offers several theoretical and practical implications.