Leader Self-Disclosure Depth: The Consequences of Leader’s Personal Disclosure for Followers

Abstract

Self-disclosure, the act of sharing information about self to others, provides disclosers with many advantages such as higher intrinsic reward and improved interpersonal relations. Previous research on self-disclosure has mostly been developed within the context of close relationships (e.g., intimate partners) or strangers (e.g., who are not expected to interact again), neglecting the influence of self-disclosure on work relationships. Additionally, previous theory on self-disclosure has been mostly developed from the perspective of the discloser, neglecting the other significant half of the interaction—the recipient. In this work, I examine the consequences of leader self-disclosure depth, or the intimacy level of the information shared in leader’s self-disclosure, from the perspective of follower recipients. Drawing from social exchange theory, I posit that receiving high depth information from a leader results in a follower recipient to experience LMX or role overload as a function of the degree to which the information shared is scarce (i.e., information scarcity). Furthermore, I explain how these perceptions motivate leader-directed organization citizenship behavior and withdrawal behavior, respectively. In Study 1, I create and validate scales for leader self-disclosure depth and information scarcity. Across Studies 2, 3, and 4, I test the hypotheses in the forms of a field study, a critical incident study, and an experiment. In sum, I discuss the implications of this dissertation for theoretical development and managerial relevance of leader self-disclosure within the workplace.