Staying in the closet versus coming out: Relationships between communication about sexual orientation and work attitudes

The threat of job discrimination causes many gay men and lesbians to keep their sexual orientation secret at work. This study investigates the relationships between extent of communication about sexual orientation and critical work attitudes. We hypothesize that ''closeted'' gay workers will experience more negative work attitudes than will either ''openly'' gay or heterosexual workers. The sample consisted of 900 lesbian, gay, and heterosexual workers identified from the mailing list of a civil rights group focused on homosexual rights. The hypothesis is supported for affective organizational commitment, job satisfaction, belief in support of top management, role ambiguity, role conflict, and conflict between work and home issues, but not for continuance commitment. Although causal relationships are not specified, we conclude that work attitude levels of gay and lesbian workers are predicted in part by the amount of communication about their sexual orientation in which these workers engage.