2013/09/14 by Nathanael J. Fast, Ethan R. Burris, Caroline A. Bartel · 435 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Behavioral Health and Interventions #Competence (human resources) #Economics #Employee voice #Expected utility hypothesis #Id, ego and super-ego #Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior #Psychology #Risk aversion (psychology) #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Social psychology
paper · doi:10.5465/amj.2012.0393
published in Academy of Management Journal 57(4), 1013-1034 (Academy of Management)
openalex publication_date 2013/09/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Soliciting and incorporating employee voice is essential to organizational performance, yet some managers display a strong aversion to improvement-oriented input from subordinates. To help to explain this maladaptive tendency, we tested the hypothesis that managers with low managerial self-efficacy (that is, low perceived ability to meet the elevated competence expectations associated with managerial roles) seek to minimize voice as a way of compensating for a threatened ego. The results of two studies support this idea. In a field study (Study 1), managers with low managerial self-efficacy were less likely than others to solicit input, leading to lower levels of employee voice. A follow-up experimental study (Study 2) showed that: (a) manipulating low managerial self-efficacy led to voice aversion (that is, decreased voice solicitation, negative evaluations of an employee who spoke up, and reduced implementation of voice); and (b) the observed voice aversion associated with low managerial self-efficacy was driven by ego defensiveness. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, as well as highlight directions for future research on voice, management, and leadership.