The Role of Identity Centrality and Disclosure in the Discrimination-Turnover Relationship

Abstract

The prejudice and discrimination cues in an organization can enact and reshape one’s non-work identity at work and associated work outcomes. This phenomenon is particularly unique for employees with an invisible stigmatized identity. The present study integrates emerging work in the organization literature (namely, identity negotiation and threat, stigma, diversity and inclusion) to examine the role of discriminatory climate in the enactment of an invisible and stigmatized non-work identity at work and the subsequent impact on turnover intentions among employees with an invisible stigmatized identity. Our results revealed that the relationship between perceptions of discriminatory climate and intention to leave partially mediated by identity centrality among professional lesbians and gay men. Further, we found that the magnitude of this mediating mechanism is contingent upon the disclosure of the person’s invisible stigmatized identity. Results of the three-way interaction indicated that the intention to leave in the context of high discriminatory climate is higher among those who live with internal conflict or misalignment (high identity centrality but low disclosure; low centrality but high disclosure) compared to those who live with congruence or alignment (high identity centrality and high disclosure; low identity centrality and low disclosure). These findings highlight the importance of embracing fair and inclusive policies, culture, and climate for members of all groups and enabling the expression and sharing of identity so that organizations may retain and unlock the talent of their demographically diverse workforce.