Can I Tell You Something? How Disruptive Self-Disclosure Changes Who “We” Are

Abstract

Work relationships are dynamic entities that have the potential to change over time. Given this, I develop a process model to explain how some self-disclosures, which I term disruptive self-disclosures, have the power to shift a work relationship. By focusing on the relational consequences of disruptive self-disclosure, the process model highlights the actions and reactions at the individual level that have the potential to shift the relational level. To address the relational level, I conceptualize work relationships as a relational trajectory that captures the patterns of interrelating throughout the duration of the relationship. The process model illuminates how an internal assessment and an external behavioral response, ranging from enthusiasm to eschewal, combine with the initial disruptive self-disclosure to create either positive or negative shifts within the relational trajectory. By addressing the mechanisms through which disruptive self-disclosures shift work relationships, this process model brings attention to the ability to alter the patterns of interrelating within work relationships, creating a theory of how work relationships change.