Date of Award

Summer 2023

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Psychology, PhD

Program

School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Allen Omoto

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Michelle Bligh

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Becky Reichard

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Mikki Hebl

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2023 David M Mendelsohn

Keywords

Gender identity, Sexual minority groups

Subject Categories

Organizational Behavior and Theory | Psychology

Abstract

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.

ISBN

9798380478052

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