Revealing Concealable Stigmatized Identities: The Impact of Disclosure Motivations and Positive First-Disclosure Experiences on Fear of Disclosure and Well-Being

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.