The DOI matches its Crossref record; 254 of the 254 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Distinguishing Voice and Silence at Work: Unique Relationships with Perceived Impact, Psychological Safety, and Burnout
Open accessAbstract
Scholars continue to debate whether voice and silence are opposites or distinct constructs. This ambiguity has prevented meaningful theoretical advancements about employees’ voice and silence at work. We draw on the behavioral activation and behavioral inhibition systems perspective to provide a conceptual framework for the independence of voice and silence and explicate how two key antecedents—perceived impact and psychological safety—more strongly relate to voice and silence, respectively. We further differentiate voice and silence by identifying their distinct effects on employee burnout. In Study 1, a meta-analysis, we demonstrate that voice and silence are independent (Mρ = −.15) and that perceived impact (psychological safety) relates more strongly to voice (silence) than to silence (voice). We also find that silence has a significantly stronger association with burnout compared to voice. In Study 2, we constructively replicate these findings in an interval-contingent panel study across six months. Taken together, this article helps shift the conversation of whether voice and silence are distinct constructs to how they differ and why such differences matter.
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Metadata
- Authors
- Sherf, E. N., Parke, M. R., & Isaakyan, S.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
- Venue
- Academy of Management Journal
- Publisher
- Academy of Management
- Published
- 2021-02
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 114-148
- ISSN
- 0001-4273 (ISSN-L)
- 1948-0989
- OpenAlex
- W3005288118
- Semantic Scholar
- 8090554c1ccb1981f5645fad8304e76f92b063b3
- Cited by
- 349
- References
- 248
- Citations by year
- 2026: 68 · 2025: 76 · 2024: 82 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 32
- FWCI
- 32.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- pure.eur.nl
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Academy of Management Journal (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- London Business School Research Online (London Business School) (acceptedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion)
- UNC Libraries
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Industrial relations › Labor Movements and Unions
- Keywords
- employee voice, employee silence, perceived impact, psychological safety, burnout, behavioral activation system, behavioral inhibition system, workplace dissent
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