The Effects of Threat Sensitivity and Face Giving on Dyadic Psychological Safety and Upward Communication1
Abstract
The tendency for individuals in organizational hierarchies to fail to communicate negatively valenced information has been well documented, but the psychological mechanisms behind the phenomenon have not. With the increasing emphasis on organizational transparency, the need to understand why organizational participants regularly fail to transfer critical task-relevant information is pressing. Two measures of how individuals give (face giving) and react to (threat sensitivity) negatively valenced information are developed and are shown to significantly affect upward communication. These effects are mediated by 2 dyadic psychological safety constructs based on Edmondson's (1999) team psychological safety construct. Self psychological safety mediated the effect of supervisor face giving on admission of errors and help seeking, and other psychological safety mediated the effect of supervisor face giving and supervisor threat sensitivity on the likelihood that a subordinate will raise disagreement, give candid feedback, and point out errors to a supervisor.
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Team psychological security is significant for team execution processes such as team cooperation, communication, shared decision-making, creativity, and team performance.
“It is significant for the team’s execution process, such as team cooperation, communication, shared decision-making, creativity, and team performance [64,65].”
From Structural Dimension Exploration and Measurement Scale Development of Employee Involution in China’s Workplace Field (2022) · cites this paper as [65]
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“It is significant for the team’s execution process, such as team cooperation, communication, shared decision-making, creativity, and team performance [64,65].”
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- Authors
- Tynan, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- Corresponding author
- Tynan, Renee
- Venue
- Journal of Applied Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2005-02
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 223-247
- ISSN
- 0021-9029 (ISSN-L)
- 1559-1816
- OpenAlex
- W2085247349
- Cited by
- 137
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 2.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Applied Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Team Dynamics and Performance
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Radiological and Ultrasound Technology › Occupational Health and Safety Research
- Keywords
- threat sensitivity, upward communication, organizational transparency, help-seeking, disagreement, supervisor-subordinate relations, organizational hierarchy
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