Abstract:

The method of meta-analysis was utilized to analyze the relationship between demographic characteristics and voice behavior. Eighty-one primary empirical studies with a total sample size of 39118 participants were included in this study. Results of the meta-analysis showed that age, education, tenure and position were positively and significantly correlated with voice behavior. Namely, older employees with higher level of education and longer tenure would present more voice behavior. Meanwhile, the relationship between position and voice behavior had significantly variance under different cultural background. The test of moderating effect disclosed that culture played an moderator role in the relationship of position and voice behavior. Namely, due to the influence of Chinese traditional culture, employees in China who in low positions dared not to speak up to their supervisors thus their voice quantity was significantly less than those in high positions. However, this variance was not quite obvious in other culture. What’s more, the positive relationship between age and voice behavior was moderated by the evaluation method of voice in such a way that it became stronger when the assessment was conducted by others (i.e. Leaders or peers) than by themselves. The study results provided more accurate estimates for predicting voice behavior by demographic characteristics and also the future research directions of voice behavior.

Key words: employee voice behavior, demographic characteristics, meta-analysis, cultural difference, evaluation method