Dewaele Alexis, Van Houtte Mieke, Buysse Ann, Lyubayeva Alona, Trippas Michiel, Baeken Ann-Sophie
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, BE.
Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, Research team CuDOS, Ghent University, BE.
Psychol Belg. 2019 Feb 13;59(1):78-95. doi: 10.5334/pb.443.
Visibility management (VM) refers to the regulation of disclosure of one's sexual orientation for the purposes of maintaining privacy as well as minimizing stigma, harm, or marginalization. Research on how lesbian women and gay men (LGs) manage the visibility of their sexual orientation in the workplace is scarce. In this study, we tested a model that investigates the relationships between VM on the one hand, and specific job characteristics, experiencing the work environment as more or less LG friendly, and personal homonegative experiences on the other. In a non-representative sample of 4,080 employees of the Flemish government, 6.3% identified as gay or lesbian. Within this LG subsample ( = 265) we found that specific job characteristics (having a managerial position, or having a tenured or non-tenured position) were not associated with VM. Knowing other LGs within the work environment who are open about their sexual orientation was associated with being more likely to apply open VM strategies, as was perceiving the atmosphere at work as permissive towards LGs. Having witnessed negative events towards LGs at work was associated with taking the characteristics of a social setting (e.g., public or private) into account when deciding to disclose one's sexual orientation. Finally, participants who experienced homonegative events (such as unsolicited sexual innuendo or abusive language) felt less inhibited about disclosure. Potential theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed.
可见性管理（VM）是指为了维护隐私以及尽量减少污名、伤害或边缘化而对个人性取向披露进行的规范。关于女同性恋者和男同性恋者（LG）如何在工作场所管理其性取向可见性的研究很少。在本研究中，我们测试了一个模型，该模型一方面研究可见性管理与特定工作特征、将工作环境体验为或多或少对LG友好以及个人负面同性恋经历之间的关系。在弗拉芒政府4080名员工的非代表性样本中，6.3%的人认定自己为同性恋者或女同性恋者。在这个LG子样本（n = 265）中，我们发现特定工作特征（担任管理职位、拥有终身或非终身职位）与可见性管理无关。在工作环境中认识其他公开自己性取向的LG者，以及认为工作氛围对LG者宽容，都与更有可能采用公开的可见性管理策略相关。在工作中目睹针对LG者的负面事件，与在决定披露自己的性取向时考虑社会环境的特征（如公共或私人）相关。最后，经历过负面同性恋事件（如主动的性暗示或辱骂性语言）的参与者在披露方面感到的抑制较少。本文讨论了潜在的理论和实际意义。
