ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理学报 ›› 2022, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (5): 549-565.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00549

• 研究报告 • 上一篇    下一篇

领导权力和地位对下属建言的影响——心理安全感的作用

容琰1, 隋杨2(), 江静3   

  1. 1上海财经大学商学院, 上海 200433
    2北京科技大学经济管理学院, 北京 100083
    3北京邮电大学经济管理学院, 北京 100876
  • 收稿日期:2021-04-08 发布日期:2022-03-23 出版日期:2022-05-25
  • 通讯作者: 隋杨 E-mail:suiy@ustb.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金项目(71972009);国家自然科学基金项目(71802008)

The effects of leader power and status on employees’ voice behavior: The role of psychological safety

RONG Yan1, SUI Yang2(), JIANG Jing3   

  1. 1College of Business, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, China
    2School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology of Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
    3School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China
  • Received:2021-04-08 Online:2022-03-23 Published:2022-05-25
  • Contact: SUI Yang E-mail:suiy@ustb.edu.cn

摘要:

通过实验研究(研究1、2)和多来源、多时点的实地问卷调查(研究3), 本文发现: 领导权力对下属建言有消极作用, 领导地位对下属建言有积极作用; 领导地位调节领导权力对下属建言的影响, 当领导地位较低时, 领导权力对下属建言的负面作用增强, 反之则不显著; 领导地位对权力的调节作用通过下属心理安全感传递至下属建言行为。这一研究结果有助于阐明组织层级差异(如权力、地位)是如何影响下属建言行为的。

关键词: 权力, 地位, 建言行为, 心理安全感

Abstract:

The impact of a leader’s hierarchical position on employees’ voice behaviors is both practically and theoretically important. Prior research found that hierarchical differences hinder upward communication and information sharing. Indeed, the hierarchical position is constructed on different bases. For example, power (i.e., the control over valuable resources) and status (i.e., the respect and esteem that a leader holds in the eyes of others) are two different bases of hierarchy, and they are found to have distinct effects on an individual’s behaviors and perceptions. Therefore, employees’ voice decisions may vary when the leader has high power or high status. However, prior research has not distinguished those different hierarchical bases (i.e., power and status) when investigating the effect of a leader’s hierarchical rank on employees’ voice behaviors. Moreover, the interactive relationship between power and status has not been explored in the voice context, although researchers have identified that the power effect often depends on status. We suggest that leader power and status have distinct effects on employees’ voice behavior and psychological safety. We also expect the effect of leader power on employee’s voice behavior to be moderated by leader status and that the moderating effect may be transferred indirectly through employees’ psychological safety.
By taking a multimethod approach, we tested our hypotheses in two experiments (Studies 1 and 2) and a field survey (Study 3). In Study 1, we conducted a 2 (leader power: high vs. low) × 2 (leader status: high vs. low) between-subjects design and recruited 163 full-time employees from Prolific. By using a scenario-based experiment, we aimed to test the main effects of leader power and status on employees’ voice behaviors, as well as the moderating effect of leader status. In Study 2, we conducted a 2 (leader power: high vs. low) × 2 (leader status: high vs. low) between-subjects design and recruited 189 full-time employees from Prolific. In this study, we asked participants to identify a target leader who had either high or low power and either high or low status. After that, they indicated how many suggestions or concerns they would bring up to this leader in a real meeting and reported the perceived psychological safety in that situation. In Study 3, we collected data from a large company in South China. The final sample consists of 346 employees matched with their 111 immediate supervisors. Employees evaluated their supervisor’s power and status at T1 and reported their psychological safety at T2; supervisors reported employee voice behaviors at T2.
In Study 1, we found a negative effect of leader power on employees’ voice behaviors. In addition, we found that the effect of leader power on employees’ voice behavior was contingent on leader status. That is, when a leader has high status, the negative effect of leader power on employee voice behavior was not significant; when a leader has low status, the negative effect was stronger. Study 2 supported the main effect of leader power and status on employees’ voice behaviors, as well as the moderating effect of leader status. In addition, Study 2 provided evidence of the mediating role of psychological safety that links the interaction of leader power and status with employees’ voice behaviors. Finally, Study 3 replicated the main effect of leader power and status on employees' voice behavior, the moderating effect of status on the link between leader power and employees’ voice behavior, and the mediating effect of psychological safety. The results from two experiments and one field study ensured high internal and external validity.
Our study contributes to the literature in several aspects. First, we distinguished the effect of leader power and status on employees’ voice behaviors and psychological safety. We also found that the effect of leader power on employees’ voice behavior depends on leader status. This finding provided more nuanced evidence regarding how hierarchical differentiation influences upward voice. Second, although researchers have identified leader power as an influential predictor of employees’ voice behavior, the findings are mixed. We demonstrated that the impact of leader power is contingent on leader status. This finding helps reconcile the debate on leader power. Third, researchers have focused more attention on how leaders influence employees through hard power than on the influence of soft status. Our results show that dominance (i.e., power) and prestige (i.e., status) are both important sources of influence in organizations.

Key words: power, status, voice behavior, psychological safety

中图分类号: