Includes bibliographies and references. / Environmental damage has become of widespread concern, so much so that some companies are disclosing environmental information in their annual reports, the traditional medium for communication to shareholders and other users. There is no recognised reporting model or framework for the reporting of environmental information. As a result, these disclosures are often ad hoc, and objective determination of their quality is extremely difficult. Furthermore, to the writer's knowledge, no survey of environmental disclosures has been conducted in South Africa. The objectives of this dissertation included the determination of an appropriate environmental reporting model, based on the critical review of the accounting legal and economic literatures. The reporting model suggested is that of compliance with legal environmental standards, with certain additional financial information. An existing disclosure index, enabling the objective measurement of environmental disclosure quality, was extended and adapted to the South African situation. Analysis of the index scores revealed an improvement in the quality of environmental disclosures over a five year period, and that disclosures are not influenced by a company's total assets or the presence of international shareholders. Analysis of index scores on a group basis revealed that disclosures are not made as a result of a top-down approach. However, companies in similar industries in a group tended to have almost identical disclosures. Comparison of the results of the South African survey with a similar American one, revealed a significant disparity between disclosure scores for the oil, paper and steel industries. This disparity is exacerbated by the difference in time period of at least 15 years, and suggests that the difference in disclosure quality is possibly as a result of the disparity in content and enforcement of legal environmental standards. With the opening up of international markets to South African business, producers may no longer be able to ignore international environmental standards, and the poor quality of South African disclosures may well prove unacceptable. Without more effective legal environmental standards, there will be little progress towards improved environmental disclosures.

The real-life disclosure of sensitive information is associated with intra- and interpersonal benefits in the disclosure literature, but the current work suggests it is often associated with regret. In Chapter 1, an overview is provided of the disclosure literature, and common constructs across sub-disciplines are identified and categorized on select attributes. A general process model of disclosure is proposed. Chapter 2 features empirical examination of factors that contribute to regret following the disclosure of sensitive information. Across five survey-based studies, the qualities of 11,854 disclosures from 974 participants are correlated with participants' reports of post-disclosure regret and gladness. Specific qualities of disclosure are identified that are associated with post-disclosure regret, including that people disclose unintentionally. Conclusions from these studies suggest that planning the disclosure of sensitive information is associated with less post-disclosure regret.

The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between corporate governance and disclosure of corporate information by listed companies in developing economies. A comparative study was carried out covering listed companies in South Africa, East Africa and Nigeria. The study is based on the agency theory which asserts that enhanced disclosure is one of the fundamental goals of a company's reporting system aimed at reducing agency costs and information asymmetries between shareholders and managers, hence a tenet of any effective governance system. Although corporate disclosure provides a channel through which shareholders obtain valuable information to make investment decisions, prior studies reported mixed empirical evidence on the role of corporate governance in enhancing corporate disclosure. Furthermore, empirical evidence from Sub Saharan Africa and developing economies in general remains scanty. Despite the fact that corporate governance systems have been widely used in strengthening the quality of financial reporting and disclosure, several corporate scandals and failures have continued to occur around the globe and the efficacy of corporate governance on disclosure activities in preventing managers from misappropriating corporate resources remains an empirical question. A comprehensive literature review revealed six corporate governance attributes (CEO non-duality, board size, board composition, composition of audit committees, block and director share ownership) and three control variables (Firm size, leverage, and profitability) that may have a significant influence on corporate disclosure. Corporate disclosure was categorized into disclosure of financial and non-financial information. Data was collected from annual reports of non-financial listed companies on selected securities exchanges in Sub Saharan Africa for the period 2010 to 2013. A comparative panel data analysis was then carried out using STATA MP Version 13, to obtain Random-Effects Regression models which were used to examine the relationship between corporate governance and corporate disclosure. Overall, the findings revealed that CEO non-duality, board size and board composition have a positive significant effect on corporate disclosure, while the effect of block and director share ownership is negative. The study concluded that for effective disclosure of information in developing economies, companies should minimize block and director share ownership, separate roles of chief executive officers and chairpersons of board of directors, increase board size and ensure that there is a higher proportion of non- executive directors on boards.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Self disclosure, or sharing personal details about oneself with another, is an important communication construct that can impact relationship development, workplace satisfaction, mental health, and physical health, among other aspects of an individual’s life (Clevinger, Ablert & Raiche, 2019; Hyman, & McQuitty, 2000; Jourard, 1971; Rosenfeld, Civikly, & Herron, 1979). Much of the research on self disclosure has focused on why people choose to self disclose, how self disclosure impacts relationship development, or the risks individuals experience in regards to self disclosure (Greene, Derlega & Matthews, 2006; Smith & Brunner, 2017). The levels of self disclosure have also been studied (Harper & Harper, 2006; Morton, 1978). What has been overlooked thus far in academic research is the manner which individuals disclose information to one another. The benefits of filling this gap in self disclosure research by establishing self disclosure categories is multi-faceted. First, understanding how individuals self disclose increases the accessibility of self disclosure for non-academic circles. Categorizing self disclosure will provide individuals with the language to talk about how they make themselves known to others. Understanding how individual’s self disclose also creates new opportunities for self disclosure research among the academic realm.

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Business leaders increasingly face pressure from stakeholders to be transparent. There appears however little consensus on the risks and payoffs of disclosing vital information such as corporate strategy. To fill this gap, this study analyzes firm-specific determinants and organisational outcomes of voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. Stakeholder theory and agency theory help to understand whether companies serve their interest to engage with stakeholders and overcome information asymmetries. I connect these theories and propose a comprehensive approach to measure voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. Hypotheses from the theoretical framework are empirically tested through panel regression of data on identified determinants and outcomes and of disclosed strategy through annual reports, corporate social responsibility reports, corporate websites and corporate press releases by the 70 largest publicly listed companies in the Netherlands from 2003 through 2008. I found that industry, profitability, dual-listing status, national ranking status and listing age have significant effects on voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. No significant effects are found for size, leverage and ownership concentration. On outcomes, I found that liquidity of stock and corporate reputation are significantly influenced by voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. No significant effect is found for volatility of stock. My contributions to theory, methodology and empirics offers a stepping-stone for further research into understanding how companies can use transparency to manage stakeholder relations.

Security breach disclosure is the public disclosure of information regarding a data security incident. It allows organizations to communicate salient information to the affected parties and stakeholders regarding the nature and impact of the breach, and remediating solutions undertaken regarding the breach. Recent cases of large-scale security breaches have revealed that security breach disclosure remains a challenging subject for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. There is a lack of understanding and consensus on what breaches need to be disclosed and little evidence on how actual practices are employed. Using an adapted grounded theory methodology that combines computerized textual extraction and ground theory coding techniques, this study explores relevant issues through four research questions with distinct objectives that would enhance understanding of the issues in public breach disclosure. First, recent regulations from the US, EU, and Canada are reviewed to identify the core elements in breach disclosure. Second, this study develops methods to extract information content from disclosures. Third, matrices and measuring instruments are developed to evaluate the quality, and last, a framework is proposed to map out the paths and directions for future research. These advancements lay the crucial groundwork in the field of security breach disclosure and will contribute greatly towards future policies, practice, and research. The expected societal significance of this research is profound. The research is relevant to practitioners, regulators, and the information security community as it provides valuable insight on current challenges and future directions. The ultimate goal is to strengthen our understanding of security breach disclosure and enhance the accumulation and transfer of knowledge obtained through security breach disclosure; thereby providing organizations, regulators, and the information security community with the information necessary to develop policies, tools, and controls for identifying, managing, and reducing the risks of future security incidents. The proposed core elements, methods of extracting relevant information content, quality evaluation matrices, and framework mark a significant advancement towards this vision. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Recent cases of security breach at Equifax, Yahoo, and Uber have raised attention from the public and regulators on the issues of public disclosure of security incidents. However, the lack of understanding and research in security breach disclosures has hampered our ability in defining what needs to be disclosed, understanding what are actually disclosed, and determining how well the incidents are disclosed. These issues are urgent and important thus warrant considerable efforts to carefully examine the current landscape of policy and practice, and to provide methods to evaluate disclosures so that meaningful advancements in research and improvements in practice can be made. This study recommends a set of core elements in disclosure, develops methods to extract information from disclosure, establishes ways to evaluate quality, and proposes a framework that maps out future research. These are important advancements in the study of security breach disclosure and will contribute greatly towards future policies, practice, and research.

In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 adolescent girls (7 sister pairs) between the ages of 13 and 18 years to examine disclosure between adolescent sisters. The content of disclosures between sisters focused on relationships, particularly those with boys, family, and peers. Participants described childhood relationships as play-oriented, whereas adolescent relationships were marked by less overall interaction but more talk. They identified their sisters' ability to understand, be nonjudgmental, and be trustworthy as facilitating disclosure. The possibility that a sister may breach confidentiality through gossip or tattling, however, may limit disclosure. Participants perceived disclosure to bring them closer, to help them understand each other, and to highlight differences between them. Although disclsoure was perceived to be important, participants also valued companionship and playfulness in their relationships Perspectives and opinions of each sister within a dyad were generally congruent. Findings suggested an association between disclosure and closeness. Directions for future research are suggested / Master of Science

To date, most research on sexual assault disclosure has utilized samples composed predominately of White women (Fedina et al., 2018). As a result, there is a need for research that examines sexual assault disclosure within racially and ethnically diverse samples. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine whether survivors’ race/ethnicity is related to whether they disclose their sexual assault to others of the same and different races and ethnicities. The study recruited undergraduate college students from the UCF Psychology Department Sona System to complete an online survey that assessed history of sexual assault and disclosure of sexual assault (for those who endorsed a history of sexual assault). For the current study, the sample was restricted to students who had experienced a sexual assault since the age of 14 (n = 139). White participants were more likely to disclose to a friend of the same race than non-White participants, χ 2 (1, N = 139) = 11.80, p < .001, and more likely to disclose to a family member of the same race than non-White participants, χ 2 (1, N = 139) = 5.32, p = .021. Additionally, there are no statistically significant differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic participants in disclosure likelihood for any type of disclosure recipient group. These findings suggest that research examining barriers of sexual assault disclosure in diverse racial and ethnic populations is needed.