The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 3 - 62

Pamela Altmaier

affiliation. Participants explained that these established relationships limited the uncertainty
of the receiving parties' reactions. Participants
trusted that the receiving parties would validate their experiences and provide support.
During an interview, Sarah explained that she
had approached her RA with other concerns,
and she had felt supported during these interactions. Based on Sarah's positive experiences
with her RA, she felt that she could trust the
RA and decided to disclose her experience of
a bias-related incident. This common theme
among participants illustrates that an established relationship is extremely important to
individuals when they are deciding to disclose
bias-related incidents.
An emerging theme of the participants illustrated that disclosures to strangers, especially university employees, were not desirable.
Participants voiced their concerns that these
disclosures had the potential for further harm.
As Sol explained, "It's like I am not going to
go talk to strangers and expose myself... I just
didn't feel comfortable enough. . . I guess and I
don't want to go around... sharing my story with
everybody." The participants shared that they
would not disclose to individuals with whom
they did not have established relationships.
Many participants shared that they have relationships with individuals who can relate to
their lived experiences, often relating to shared
identities. These narratives demonstrated that
students feel comforted by the shared lived experiences and identities. Sam explained, "I felt
that they could relate to me in a way. So for
me it was kinda like a source of comfort like to
share my thoughts and feelings with." These
students wanted to feel safe and comfortable
when sharing their experiences. Furthermore,
62

When asked if they would disclose
their experiences in the future,
participants indicated that this
decision would be based on their
previous experiences disclosing.

participants spoke to the undesired process of
explaining the entire experience to someone
who may not have experienced bias-related
incidents. Rose said, "I feel like someone to
really understand what it feels like... I would
have way too much to explain and that it is
easier to just take the hit."
When participants indicated that having
a shared identity with the receiving party was
a factor in deciding to whom they should disclose, they reiterated that an established relationship with the individual was still vital.
For example, Matt indicated that he wanted
to interact with someone to understand his
or her ideologies and perceptions of world
issues, regardless of the individual's identity,
before disclosing any personal experiences to
the individual. He thought that this approach
protected him from further harm and lessened
the uncertainty of how the individual would
react. Many of the participants indicated that
their disclosures impacted their decisions to
disclose in the future.

Previous Experience Disclosing
When asked if they would disclose their experiences in the future, participants indicated that
this decision would be based on their previous
experiences disclosing. Stephanie explained
that her negative experience has caused her

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 3

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