Anticipating Identity Management Decision-Making Process: The Case of Hijab Disclosure to Managers Through the Study of Time and Space.

This article examines how time and space shape the decision-making process (DMP) of hijabis—Muslim women who wear the hijab—when deciding whether to disclose this stigmatized religious identity to their managers in the French workplace. Based on 40 interviews, the study identifies a three-phase DMP: conceptualization (anticipating the manager's reaction and organizational context), planning (deciding on disclosure or non-disclosure and managing material and legal considerations), and actualization (implementing the decision). It introduces the concept of a "transition space," a flexible, secluded, and psychologically distressing space between private and professional spheres that hijabis create to manage non-disclosure. The research highlights that timing and spatial strategies are resources hijabis use to exercise agency despite managerial power and that non-disclosure incurs significant material and emotional costs. The findings also emphasize the manager's dual role as both a target of disclosure and a constraint on the hijabi's agency, suggesting implications for organizational policies and managerial training on religious diversity.