Remodeling the Closet: The Individual and Organizational Correlates of Workplace Sexual Identity Management

<p>The strategies by which sexual minority employees manage their sexual identities in the workplace have long been a subject of inquiry. Extant research has long recognized that these employees potentially engage in several different strategies for workplace sexual identity management (e.g., actively concealing their identity vs. disclosing their identity), models of sexual identity management tend to focus only on factors that influence disclosure decisions. The current series of two survey studies explored the broader organizational correlates of three workplace sexual identity management strategies: general outness, concealment, and disclosure, as well as whether differences existed based on gender and sexual identity (i.e., gay- and lesbian-identified vs. bisexual-identified employees). Study 1 used a broad-based survey sample to explore these correlates, and Study 2 used data from a targeted survey that included active-duty LGB service members as respondents. Results from these two studies suggest that there may be differences in the sexual identity strategies that sexual minority employees engage in at their places of work. In addition, sexual identity management strategies associated with workplace characteristics included perceived support for sexual minority employees, supportive policies for sexual minorities, and organizational embeddedness. Perceived workplace support also moderated the relationship between concealing one’s sexual identity and organizational embeddedness, such that those who concealed less also tended to report feeling less embedded within their organizations, but this was only true for those who reported low perceived support for sexual minorities in their workplaces. These findings have implications for models of sexual identity management, future research directions, and organizational practice to support sexual minority employees.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Psychology, PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation

Year dc:date.available

2023

Author dc:creator

• Mendelsohn, David M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Michelle Bligh
• Becky Reichard
• Mikki Hebl

• Gender identity
• Sexual minority groups
• Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/599

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:cgu_etd-1621