https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318920949328 Management Communication Quarterly 1–31 © The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0893318920949328 journals.sagepub.com/home/mcq Article Privacy Rule Decision Criteria: An Examination of Core and Catalyst Criteria that Shape Disclosures in the Work-Spouse Relationship M. Chad McBride 1 , Allison R. Thorson 2 , and Karla Mason Bergen 3 Abstract Despite the prevalence of work spouses, scarce empirical research has focused on the communication occurring within these relationships, leaving managers with little understanding as to whether organizations can or should communicate support for employees forming these relationships and how privacy is navigated among work spouses. Building on McBride and Bergen’s conceptualization of the work-spouse relationship, we used Communication Privacy Management theory (CPM) to understand what, if any, privacy rule decision criteria individuals used as they negotiated disclosures within their work-spouse relationships. Analysis of interviews with 41 people in work- spouse relationships suggests that participants recognized both their own core privacy rule decision criteria and when these criteria were similar to or different from the criteria influencing their work spouse’s. Furthermore, work-spouse relationships formed despite organizational efforts to keep 1 Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA 2 University of San Francisco, CA, USA 3 College of Saint Mary, Omaha, NE, USA Corresponding Author: M. Chad McBride, Department of Communication Studies, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178, USA. Email: cmcbride@creighton.edu 949328MCQ XX X 10.1177/0893318920949328Management Communication QuarterlyMcBride et al. research-article 2020