Premium
Revealing Concealable Stigmatized Identities: The Impact of Disclosure Motivations and Positive First‐Disclosure Experiences on Fear of Disclosure and Well‐Being
Author(s) -
Chaudoir Stephenie R.,
Quinn Diane M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2010.01663.x
Subject(s) - self disclosure , psychology , affect (linguistics) , social psychology , quality (philosophy) , well being , identity (music) , psychotherapist , philosophy , physics , communication , epistemology , acoustics
People who live with concealable stigmatized identities face complex decisions regarding disclosure. In the current work, we examine how people's motivations for disclosing a concealable stigmatized identity for the first time affect the quality of their first‐disclosure experiences and how these experiences, in turn, affect current well‐being. Specifically, we found that people who disclosed for ecosystem, or other‐focused, reasons report more positive first‐disclosure experiences which, in turn, were related to higher current self‐esteem. Analyses suggest that one reason why this first‐disclosure experience is related to current well‐being is because positive first‐disclosure experiences may serve to lessen chronic fear of disclosure. Overall, these results highlight the importance of motivational antecedents for disclosure in impacting well‐being and suggest that positive first‐disclosure experiences may have psychological benefits over time because they increase level of trust in others.