Workplace friendship is a common dual-role relationship where individuals must negotiate what they are willing to disclose with a coworker, subordinate, or supervisor at the same time they negotiate what they are willing to disclose with a friend. Individuals want to maintain a sense of privacy; however, they also have a need to disclose to others (Petronio, 2002; 2004). The current study aimed to explore how the workplace relationship context affects the negotiation of this dialectical tension.

Amy N. Miller, Ph. D., received her doctorate in communication from North Dakota State University in 2011. She is currently a faculty member in the communication department at Bellevue College near Seattle, Washington.