How Followers Navigate Leader Self-Disclosure: Examining Leader Self-Disclosure Depth

Abstract

Self-disclosure, the act of sharing information about the self to others which can at times entail intimate information, provides disclosers with many advantages such as increased intrinsic reward and feeling closer to recipients. However, previous research on self-disclosure has not taken into account the perspective of recipients who are obligated to reciprocate to the discloser regardless of whether they find the disclosure favorable or not. This unforeseen cost from the recipient perspective is even more accentuated within the workplace where relationships are formed involuntarily based on assignments and hierarchy, and where the pursuit of instrumental goals takes precedence before that of socioemotional goals. Thus, high depth self-disclosure, or self-disclosure with intimate information, may not be an effective relationship behavior within the workplace as currently theorized. In this paper, I theorize on the consequences of leader self-disclosure depth within the workplace, a context where instrumental motives outrank the socio-emotional motives. Drawing from social exchange theory, I posit that a leader disclosing high depth information to a follower influences the follower recipient to experience LMX or role overload as a function of the degree to which the information shared is scarce. Furthermore, I explain how these perceptions motivate interpersonal citizenship behavior and interaction avoidance, respectively. Overall, I establish a distinct recipient-based model of self-disclosure.