Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:15:04.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Being on the outer: The risks and benefits of spiritual self-disclosure in the Australian workplace

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2015

Joanna E Crossman
Joanna E Crossman*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Campus West, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia
*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Self-disclosure has been connected to a number of organisational benefits such as increased motivation, trust building, employee well-being, organisational identification, the communication of organisational values and commitment. Curiously, however, little work about self-disclosure has been published in management and organisation journals and still less that is concerned with spiritual self-disclosure, despite increasing employee diversity as globalisation intensifies.

This paper reports on the analysis of semi-structured, qualitative, interview data collected from 40 Australian managers and professionals. The findings reveal that spiritual self-disclosure was largely perceived as taboo, ‘risky’ and stigmatising with the potential for negative consequences. These risks are all captured in the concept of being on the outer, a metaphor denoting marginalisation from the social, cultural and spiritual identity of the organisation. In contrast, ‘safe’, inclusive organisational cultures are likely to encourage spiritual self-disclosure and the benefits it can bring to employees, managers and organisations.

Keywords

communication identityself-disclosurespirituality in the workplacenegative humour
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 21 , Issue 6 , November 2015 , pp. 772 - 785
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aburdene, P. (2010). Megatrends. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads.Google Scholar
Altman, I., & Taylor, D. (1973). Social penetration. The development of interpersonal relationships. New York, NY: Holt, Rinhart & Winston Inc.Google Scholar
Antaki, C., Barnes, R., & Leudar, I. (2005). Self-disclosure as a situated interactional practice. The British Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 181–199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Archer, R. (1979). Role of personality and the social situation. In G. Chelune et al. (Eds.), Self-disclosure. Origins, patterns, and implications in interpersonal relationships (pp. 28–59). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Badrinarayan, S. (2009). Workplace spirituality facilitation. A comprehensive model. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(3), 375–386.Google Scholar
Bell, A., Rajendran, D., & Theiler, S. (2012). Spirituality at work: An employee stress intervention for academics? International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(11), 68–82.Google Scholar
Benefiel, M. (2010). Methodological issues in the study of spirituality at work. In S. Nanrum & M. Borden (Eds.), Spirituality and business. Exploring the possibilities for a new managerial paradigm (pp. 33–44). New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Bobkowsi, P., & Kalyanaraman, S. (2010). Effects of online Christian self-disclosure on impression formation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 49(3), 456–476.Google Scholar
Bouma, G. (1999). Social justice in the management of religious diversity in Australia. Social Justice Research, 12(4), 283–295.Google Scholar
Bryman, A. (2004). Social research methods (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Canda, E., & Furman, L. (1999). Spiritual diversity in social work practice. The heart of helping. New York, NY: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Chaikin, A., & Derlaga, V. (1974). Liking for the norm-breaker in self-disclosure. Journal of Personality, 42(1), 117–129.Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. (2000). Grounded theory: Objectivist and constructivist methods. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 509–535). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. (2006). On constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London, UK: Sage.Google Scholar
Chelune, G., Archer, R., Kleinke, C., Rosenfeld, L., Civikly, J., Herron, J., Taylor, D., Derlega, V., Grzelak, J., Doster, J., Nesbitt, J., & Waterman, J. (1979). Self-disclosure. Origins, patterns, and implications in interpersonal relationships. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Chen, Y., & Nakazawa, M. (2009). Influences of culture on self-disclosure as relationally situated in intercultural and interracial friendships from a social penetration perspective. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 38(2), 77–98.Google Scholar
Clair, J., Beatty, J., & Maclean, T. (2005). Out of sight but not out of mind: Managing invisible social identities in the workplace. Academy of Management Review, 30(1), 78–95.Google Scholar
Collins, N., & Miller, L. (1994). Self-disclosure and liking: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 116(3), 457–475.Google Scholar
Cozby, P. (1972). Self-disclosure, reciprocity and liking. Sociometry, 35(1), 151–160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crossman, J. (2003). Secular spiritual development in education from international and global perspectives. Oxford Review of Education, 29(4), 503–520.Google Scholar
Crossman, J., & Clarke, M. (2009). International experience and graduate employability: Stakeholder perceptions on the connection. Higher Education, 59(5), 599–613.Google Scholar
Croucher, S., Faulkner, D., & Long, B. (2010). Demographic and religious differences in the dimensions of self-disclosure among Hindus and Muslims in India. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 39(1), 29–48.Google Scholar
Dalgin, R., & Bellini, J. (2008). Invisible disability disclosure in an employment interview. Impact on employers’ hiring decisions and views of employability. Rehabilitation Counselling Bulletin, 52(1), 6–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delbecq, A. (2005). Spiritually-informed management theory: Overlaying the experience of teaching managers. Journal of Management Inquiry, 14(3), 242–246.Google Scholar
Derlega, V., & Grzelak, J. (1979). Appropriateness of self-disclosure. In G. Chelune et al. (Eds.), Self-disclosure. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.Google Scholar
Derlega, V., Winstead, B., Mathews, A., & Braitman, A. (2008). Why does someone reveal highly personal information? Attributions for and against self-disclosure in close relationships. Communication Research Reports, 25(2), 115–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diaz-Peralta Horenstein, V., & Downey, J. (2003). A cross-cultural investigation of self-disclosure. North American Journal of Psychology, 5(3), 373–386.Google Scholar
Diverniero, R., & Hosek, A. (2011). Students perceptions and communicative management of instructors’ online self-disclosure. Communication Quarterly, 59(4), 428–449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doster, J., & Nesbitt, J. (1979). Psychotherapy and self-disclosure. In G. Chelune, et al. (Eds.), Self-disclosure. Origins, patterns, and implications in interpersonal relationships (pp. 177–224). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Driscoll, C., & Wiebe, E. (2007). Technical spirituality at work: Jacques Ellul on workplace spirituality. Journal of Management Inquiry, 16(4), 333–348.Google Scholar
Farber, B. (2006). Self-disclosure in psychotherapy. New York, NY: Guildford Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Frandsen, S. (2012). Organisational image, identification, and cynical distance: Prestigious professionals in low-prestige organisation. Management Communication Quarterly, 26(3), 351–376.Google Scholar
Franz, R., & Wong, K. (2005). Spirituality and management: A wider lens. A comment on D. Steingard’s ‘spiritually informed management’. Journal of Management Inquiry, 14, 247–250.Google Scholar
Gebert, D., Boerner, S., Kearney, E., King, J., Kai Zhang, J., & Song, J. (2013). Expressing religious identities in the workplace: Analyzing a neglected diversity dimension. Human Relations, 67, 5, 543–563.Google Scholar
Gelso, C., & Palma, B. (2011). Directions for research on self-disclosure and immediacy: Moderation, mediation and the inverted U. Psychotherapy, 48(4), 342–348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Piscataway, NJ: Aldine Transaction.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1963/1990). Stigma. Notes on the management of spoiled identity. New York, NY: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Gordon, M. (2011). The dialectics of the exit interview: A fresh look at conversations about organisational disengagement. Management Communication Quarterly, 25(1), 59–86.Google Scholar
Hargie, O., Dickson, D., Mallet, J., & Stringer, M. (2008). Communicating social identity: A study of catholics and protestants in Northern Ireland. Communication Research, 35(6), 792–821.Google Scholar
Hargie, O., Saunders, C., & Dickson, D. (1994). Self disclosure. In O. Hargie, C. Saunders, & D. Dickson (Eds.), Social skills in interpersonal communication (3rd ed., pp. 219–246). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hatch, M., & Yanow, D. (2008). Methodology by metaphor: Ways of seeing in painting and research. Organisation Studies, 29(1), 23–44.Google Scholar
Healey, B. (1990). Self-disclosure in religious spiritual direction: Antecedents and parallels to self-disclosure in psychotherapy. In G. Stricker & M. Fisher (Eds.), Self-disclosure in the therapeutic relationships (pp. 17–27). New York, NY: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Houston, P., & Sokolow, S. (2006). The spiritual deminsion of leadership. Eight key principles to leading more effectively. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.Google Scholar
Jiang, L., Bazarova, N., & Hancock, J. (2011). From perception to behaviour: Disclosure reciprocity and the intensification of intimacy in computer-mediated communication. Communication Research, 40(1), 125–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, P. (2002). The use of humour and its influences on spirituality and coping in breast cancer survivors. Oncology Nursing Forum, 29(4), 691–695.Google Scholar
Jourard, S. (1971). Self-disclosure. An experimental analysis of the transparent self. New York, NY: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
Jourard, S., & Lasakow, P. (1958). Some factors in self-disclosure. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 56(1), 91–98.Google Scholar
Kelly, A., & McKillop, K. (1996). Consequences of revealing personal secrets. Psychological Bulletin, 120(3), 450–465.Google Scholar
King, E., & Botsford, W. (2009). Managing pregnancy disclosures: Understanding and overcoming the challenges of expectant motherhood at work. Human Resource Management Review, 19(4), 314–323.Google Scholar
King, J., Bell, M., & Lawrence, E. (2009). Religion as an aspect of workplace diversity: An examination of the US context and a call for international research. Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion, 6(1), 43–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazar, A. (2009). The relation between a multidimensional measure of spirituality and measures of psychological functioning among secular Israeli Jews. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 41(2), 161–181.Google Scholar
Lincoln, Y., & Guba, G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Lips-Wiersma, M., Lund Dean, K., & Fornaciari, C. (2009). Theorizing the dark side of the workplace spirituality movement. Journal of Management Inquiry, 18, 288–300.Google Scholar
Lips-Wiersma, M., & Mills, C. (2002). Coming out of the closet: Negotiating spiritual expression in the workplace. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17(3), 183–202.Google Scholar
Liu, C., & Robertson, P. (2010). Spirituality in the workplace: Theory and measurement. Journal of Management Inquiry, 20(1), 35–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maij-de Meij, A., Kelderman, H., & van der Flier, H. (2005). Latent-trait latent-class analysis of self-disclosure in the work environment. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 40(4), 435–459.Google Scholar
Mandhouj, O., Aubin, H., Amirouche, A., Perroud, N., & Huguelet, P. (2014). Spirituality and religion among French prisoners: An effective coping resource? International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58(7), 821–834.Google Scholar
Mao, H., Hsieh, A., & Chen, C. (2012). The relationship between workplace friendship and perceived job significance. Journal of Management and Organisation, 18(2), 247–262.Google Scholar
Merrigan, G., & Huston, C. (2009). Communication Research Methods (2nd ed.). Oxford, London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Myers, S., & Johnson, A. (2004). Perceived solidarity, self-disclosure, and trust in organisational peer relationships. Communication Research Reports, 21(1), 75–85.Google Scholar
Niu, J., & Rosenthal, S. (2009). Trust discrimination towards socially dominant and subordinate social groups. North American Journal of Psychology, 11(3), 501–510.Google Scholar
Omarzu, J. (2000). A disclosure decision model: Determining how and when individuals will self-disclose. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4(2), 174–185.Google Scholar
Pasupathi, M., McLean, K., & Weeks, T. (2009). To tell or not to tell: Disclosures and the narrative self. Journal of Personality, 77(1), 89–123.Google Scholar
Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Petronio, S., Reeder, H., Hecht, M., & Ros-Mendoza, T. (1996). Disclosure of sexual abuse by children and adolescents. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 24, 181–199.Google Scholar
Phillips, K., Rothbard, N., & Dumas, T. (2009). To disclose or not disclose? Status distance and self-disclosure in diverse environments. Academy of Management Review, 34(4), 710–732.Google Scholar
Ragins, B. (2008). Disclosure disconnects: Antecedents and consequences of disclosing invisible stigmas across life domains. Academy of Management Review, 33(1), 194–215.Google Scholar
Ragins, B., Singh, R., & Cornwell, J. (2007). Making the invisible visible: Fear and disclosure of sexual orientation at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 1103–1118.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, L., Civikly, J., & Herron, J. (1979). Anatomical and psychological sex differences. In G. Chelune, R. Archer, C. Kleinke, L. Rosenfeld, J. Civikly, J. Herron, D. Taylor, V. Derlega, J. Grzelak, J. Doster, J. Nesbitt, & J. Waterman (Eds.), Self-disclosure. Origins, patterns, and implications in interpersonal relationships (pp. 80–110). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Sanjeev, T., & Aparna, N. (2011). Confronting the stigma of epilepsy. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 14(3), 158–163.Google Scholar
Saroglov, V. (2004). Being religious implies being different in humour: Evidence from self- and peer- ratings. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 7(3), 255–267.Google Scholar
Speck, B. (2005). What is spirituality? New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 104, 3–13.Google Scholar
Steingard, D. (2005). Spiritually-informed management theory. Toward profound possibilities for inquiry and transformation. Journal of Management Inquiry, 14(3), 227–241.Google Scholar
Swann, W., Johnson, R., & Bosson, J. (2009). Identity negotiation at work. Research in Organisational Behaviour, 29, 81–109.Google Scholar
Tardy, C., & Dindia, K. (2006). Self-disclosure: Strategic revelation of information in personal and professional relationships. In O. Hargie (Ed.), Handbook of communication skills. Hoboken, NJ: Routledge.Google Scholar
Taylor, D. (1979). Motivational bases. In G. Chelune, G. Archer, R. Kleinke, C. Rosenfeld, L. Civikly, J. Herron, D. Taylor, V. Derlega, J. Grzelak, J. Doster, J. Nesbitt, & J. Waterman (Eds.), Self-disclosure. Origins, patterns, and implications in interpersonal relationships (pp. 110–151). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Thibaut, J., & Kelley, H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. New York, NY: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Tian, Q. (2011). Social anxiety, motivation, self-disclosure, and computer-mediated friendship: A path analysis of the social interaction in the blogosphere. Communication Research, 40(2), 237–260.Google Scholar
Weinstein, N., Hodgins, H., & Ostvik-White, E. (2011). Humor as aggression: Effects of motivation on hostility expressed appreciation. Journal of Personality and Social, 100(6), 1043–1055.Google Scholar
Weisel, J., & King, P. (2007). Involvement in a conversation and attributions concerning excessive self-disclosure. Southern Communication Journal, 72(4), 345–354.Google Scholar
Worthington, E., Hook, J., & McDaniel, M. (2011). Religion and spirituality. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Session, 67(2), 204–214.Google Scholar