Promotive and prohibitive ethical voice in groups: the effect of faultlines and role ambiguity

Abstract

Despite the role of ethical voice in promoting ethics in working units, scant attention has been devoted to the emergence and boundary conditions of collective ethical voice. In accordance with the integration between regulatory focus theory and social identity theory, this research explores the antecedents and moderators of promotive ethical voice and prohibitive ethical voice in working units. Hierarchical regression analysis of field data on 632 employees and 62 leaders at three Chinese organizations supports the hypotheses. Faultlines negatively relate to promotive ethical voice and prohibitive ethical voice in groups. Role ambiguity moderates the effect of two forms of ethical voice on citizenship behaviors and task performance in groups. Based on regulatory focus and social identity theory, this study contributes to existing research by revealing faultlines to be barriers of collective promotive and prohibitive ethical voice. Additionally, this research provides a novel lens to understand the underlying interaction mechanisms through which role ambiguity regulates the effect of ethical voice on performance in groups.