To Share or Not to Share: Unintended Consequences in Strategic Disclosure of Information at Work

Abstract

Information disclosure in the workplace has a tremendous impact on organizational functioning and relationships among employees. Prevailing findings suggest that information disclosure, especially through self-disclosure, can provide important organizational and interpersonal benefits. However, revealing potentially negative information about oneself may bring about adverse consequences to individuals. The papers of this symposium identify novel factors affecting the costs and benefits of strategic information disclosure, including the context of sharing, the target of information and the nature of existing relationships in the workplace. Beyond their theoretical contributions, findings point to important practical implications for detecting truthful opinions, affecting negotiation outcomes, and promoting employee well-being. Stefan Thau, one of the most prominent scholars on the topic of social judgment and norm violation, will facilitate a group discussion about the papers and future directions in this field. When and Why Randomized Response Techniques (Fail to) Elicit the Truth Presenter: Leslie John; Harvard Business School Presenter: George Loewenstein; Carnegie Mellon U. - Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences Presenter: Alessandro Acquisti; Heinz College - Carnegie Mellon U. Presenter: Joachim Vosgerau; Bocconi U. Getting to No: Deception Using Strategic Negotiation Presenter: Krishnan Anand; U. of Utah Presenter: Pnina Feldman; Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley Presenter: Polly Kang; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Maurice Schweitzer; U. of Pennsylvania Exaggerating the Reputational Costs of Revealing Secrets Presenter: Michael Kardas; U. of Chicago Booth School of business Presenter: Amit Kumar; U. of Chicago Booth School of business Presenter: Nicholas Epley; U. Of Chicago Disclosure of Low Socioeconomic Status of Origin in a “High Place” Presenter: Tianyu He; INSEAD Presenter: Andy Jiexiong Yap; INSEAD Whats in a Name? The Psychology Namedropping in Organizational Life Presenter: Ovul Sezer; Kenan-Flagler Business School, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill