Navigating Depression at Work: Identity Management Strategies Along the Disclosure Continuum

For employees with stigmatized concealable identities, the decision to disclose or not disclose represents a critical workplace experience. Moreover, employees enact their disclosure decisions by engaging in identity management (IM) strategies. Although multiple conceptual frameworks exist related to disclosure decisions and IM strategies, none of these frameworks consider the relationship between these two phenomena. In addition, empirical work surrounding disclosure decisions often positions disclosure as a dichotomous decision, rather than considering disclosure as occurring along a continuum. In this study, we use in-depth interviews to investigate the nuances of concealable IM using a sample of stigmatized employees, namely, those with depression. Through inductive thematic analysis, a continuum of disclosure decisions emerged (non-disclosure, partial disclosure, and full disclosure) as well as eight distinct IM strategies that participants used to enact their disclosure decisions. Our results extend the knowledge of concealable IM in multiple ways. First, we map specific IM strategies onto the disclosure continuum to provide a more robust understanding of the IM process for employees with depression. Second, we identify specific IM strategies related to partial disclosure and full disclosure, thereby extending existing conceptual frameworks. Additionally, we expand the definitions of the concealing and signaling IM strategies. Lastly, our study exposes the lived experiences of a group of employees that have traditionally been underrepresented in applied organizational research, those with depression.