Come and say what you think: reducing employees’ self-censorship through procedural and interpersonal justice
Introduction Self-censorship in an organization may be defined as a conscious decision by employees to refrain from expressing opinions, criticism or suggestions in situations of perceived irregularities. There are at least two reasons for this decision: firstly, the fear that speaking up would prom...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Termedia Publishing House
2021-10-01
|
| Series: | Current Issues in Personality Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://cipp.ug.edu.pl/Come-and-say-what-you-think-r-nreducing-employees-self-censorship-r-nthrough-procedural,140504,0,2.html |
| _version_ | 1798024976171794432 |
|---|---|
| author | Krystyna Adamska Paweł Jurek |
| author_facet | Krystyna Adamska Paweł Jurek |
| author_sort | Krystyna Adamska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction
Self-censorship in an organization may be defined as a conscious decision by employees to refrain from expressing opinions, criticism or suggestions in situations of perceived irregularities. There are at least two reasons for this decision: firstly, the fear that speaking up would prompt negative consequences, and secondly, the belief that it would not bring about a change in the situation. Procedural justice in an organization may encourage employees to limit that silence, thereby diminishing fear and undermining the belief that change is impossible.
Material and methods
A set of three studies (total number of participants N = 710) was conducted in order to determine whether procedural justice predicts self-censorship and also to define the role of interpersonal justice in this relationship. It was assumed that procedural justice, while useful in the formation of an impartial and rigid legal system within an organization, is constrained by its disregard for personal relations.
Results
It was found that when employees perceive a work environment as providing influence over procedures, they declare less self-censorship motivated by fear and resignation. In high interpersonal justice conditions the role of procedural justice in predicting employee self-censorship as well as employee silence beliefs increases.
Conclusions
Both fair treatment of all employees and the contextual and need-centered nature of such treatment should be integrated if self-censorship is to be reduced. The results confirm this conclusion for self-censorship (decision) and employee silence beliefs (belief that relations within the organization do not encourage people to speak up). |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:11:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e187219a61a74b8784dd65621e86cfa0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2353-4192 2353-561X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:11:20Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Termedia Publishing House |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Current Issues in Personality Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-e187219a61a74b8784dd65621e86cfa02022-12-22T04:10:07ZengTermedia Publishing HouseCurrent Issues in Personality Psychology2353-41922353-561X2021-10-019432834010.5114/cipp.2021.110022140504Come and say what you think: reducing employees’ self-censorship through procedural and interpersonal justiceKrystyna Adamska0Paweł Jurek1Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, PolandInstitute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, PolandIntroduction Self-censorship in an organization may be defined as a conscious decision by employees to refrain from expressing opinions, criticism or suggestions in situations of perceived irregularities. There are at least two reasons for this decision: firstly, the fear that speaking up would prompt negative consequences, and secondly, the belief that it would not bring about a change in the situation. Procedural justice in an organization may encourage employees to limit that silence, thereby diminishing fear and undermining the belief that change is impossible. Material and methods A set of three studies (total number of participants N = 710) was conducted in order to determine whether procedural justice predicts self-censorship and also to define the role of interpersonal justice in this relationship. It was assumed that procedural justice, while useful in the formation of an impartial and rigid legal system within an organization, is constrained by its disregard for personal relations. Results It was found that when employees perceive a work environment as providing influence over procedures, they declare less self-censorship motivated by fear and resignation. In high interpersonal justice conditions the role of procedural justice in predicting employee self-censorship as well as employee silence beliefs increases. Conclusions Both fair treatment of all employees and the contextual and need-centered nature of such treatment should be integrated if self-censorship is to be reduced. The results confirm this conclusion for self-censorship (decision) and employee silence beliefs (belief that relations within the organization do not encourage people to speak up).http://cipp.ug.edu.pl/Come-and-say-what-you-think-r-nreducing-employees-self-censorship-r-nthrough-procedural,140504,0,2.htmlprocedural justiceinterpersonal justiceself-censorshipemployee silence beliefsacquiescent silencequiescent silence |
| spellingShingle | Krystyna Adamska Paweł Jurek Come and say what you think: reducing employees’ self-censorship through procedural and interpersonal justice Current Issues in Personality Psychology procedural justice interpersonal justice self-censorship employee silence beliefs acquiescent silence quiescent silence |
| title | Come and say what you think:
reducing employees’ self-censorship
through procedural and interpersonal justice |
| title_full | Come and say what you think:
reducing employees’ self-censorship
through procedural and interpersonal justice |
| title_fullStr | Come and say what you think:
reducing employees’ self-censorship
through procedural and interpersonal justice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Come and say what you think:
reducing employees’ self-censorship
through procedural and interpersonal justice |
| title_short | Come and say what you think:
reducing employees’ self-censorship
through procedural and interpersonal justice |
| title_sort | come and say what you think reducing employees self censorship through procedural and interpersonal justice |
| topic | procedural justice interpersonal justice self-censorship employee silence beliefs acquiescent silence quiescent silence |
| url | http://cipp.ug.edu.pl/Come-and-say-what-you-think-r-nreducing-employees-self-censorship-r-nthrough-procedural,140504,0,2.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT krystynaadamska comeandsaywhatyouthinkreducingemployeesselfcensorshipthroughproceduralandinterpersonaljustice AT pawełjurek comeandsaywhatyouthinkreducingemployeesselfcensorshipthroughproceduralandinterpersonaljustice |