Voice Climate, Work Outcomes, and the Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment

Abstract

The study of voice climate in organizations is a recent introduction to the voice literature and much is still unknown about the outcomes associated with voice climate or the processes by which voice climate influences those outcomes. Drawing from social information processing theory, this study casts psychological empowerment as a cognitive mechanism through which shared voice climate perceptions in work groups are translated into individual work outcomes—voice behavior and customer service performance. Based on a sample of 314 full-time employees in 53 work groups, the results of our study suggest that psychological empowerment fully mediates the relationship between voice climate and customer service performance, and it only partially mediates the relationship between voice climate and voice behavior. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings as well as future research directions are discussed.