Not all Disclosures are Created Equal: Employee Ratings of Leader Effectiveness After Disclosure

Abstract

Most empirical research on voluntary disclosures of concealable stigmatized identities in the workplace has focused on employee populations of stigma holders. Early leader-focused results suggest employee evaluations of leaders are negatively affected when leaders disclose a concealable stigmatized identity. The current research aims to improve our understanding of factors that may attenuate or reverse these negative perceptions. Using experimental vignettes, I examined employee reactions to leader disclosures of concealable stigmatized identities. Independent variables including leader gender and disclosure content (Study 1a, n = 478), discloser identity (Study 1b, n = 422), and group prototypicality (Study 1c, n = 365) were manipulated to determine how differing disclosure contexts affected employee ratings of leadership effectiveness. Across studies, leader gender and discloser identity did not play a significant role in follower ratings of leader effectiveness, but disclosure content and group prototypicality did. Post-hoc testing showed that leaders who disclosed minority sexual orientation received the highest ratings of leadership effectiveness - higher than leaders who did not disclose a stigmatized identity. Leaders who disclosed substance abuse received the lowest ratings of leadership effectiveness. In terms of group prototypicality, highly prototypical leaders received the highest ratings of leadership effectiveness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.