Still Waters Run Deep: How Employee Silence Affects Instigated Workplace Incivility Over Time
基于社会认同理论，用四个月五波纵向数据发现，员工因无奈而沉默会降低组织认同，进而增加对同事的不文明行为，但其他沉默类型无此效应。
Abstract Research has shown that employees who remain silent about important issues at work are likely to experience negative personal consequences (e.g., burnout, reduced job satisfaction). Less clear is whether silence, over time, could also lead to negative interpersonal consequences. Drawing on social identity theory, we propose that involuntary forms of silence (acquiescent and quiescent silence) lead to decreased organizational identification, which, in turn, leads to increased instigated incivility over time. We tested our model at the within-person level using five waves of longitudinal data across four months from N = 1156 employees working in different industries. In line with predictions, results of random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM) showed that higher acquiescent silence at the within-person level predicted subsequent decreases in organizational identification, which, in turn, predicted subsequent increases in instigated incivility. Contrary to expectations, there was no significant effect of quiescent silence on organizational identification. Supplemental analyses also revealed non-significant indirect effects for voluntary forms of silence (prosocial and opportunistic silence). Overall, these findings suggest that acquiescent silence may not only impair employees’ own well-being, but can also result in interpersonal harm.