Voice Climate, Supervisor Undermining, and Work Outcomes: A Group-Level Examination

Abstract

This study draws from social information processing theory and the climate literature to examine an antecedent to and the consequences of voice climate, defined as shared group member perceptions of the extent to which they are encouraged to engage in voice behaviors. The authors test their hypotheses using data collected from a sample of 374 full-time employees nested in 54 work groups. Their results indicate that group perceptions of supervisor undermining have a negative effect on group perceptions of voice climate. In addition, voice climate predicts group voice behavior and also has a significant influence on group performance beyond the influence through group voice behavior. These findings provide additional evidence for the predictive validity of the voice climate construct and provide future research opportunities for researchers.