Skip to main content
Original Article

Employees’ Critical Thinking, Leaders’ Inspirational Motivation, and Voice Behavior

The Mediating Role of Voice Efficacy

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000193

Abstract. This study uses implicit voice theory to examine the influence of employees’ critical thinking and leaders’ inspirational motivation on employees’ voice behavior via voice efficacy. The results of a pretest of 302 employees using critical thinking questionnaires and a field study of 273 dyads of supervisors and their subordinates revealed that both employees’ critical thinking and leaders’ inspirational motivation had a positive effect on employees’ voice and that voice efficacy mediates the relationships among employees’ critical thinking, leaders’ inspirational motivation, and employees’ voice. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

References

  • Antonakis, J. & House, R. J. (2002). The full-range leadership theory: The way forward. In B. J. AvolioF. J. YammarinoEds., Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead (pp. 3–33). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: JAI Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Ashford, S. J., Rothbard, N. P., Piderit, S. K. & Dutton, J. E. (1998). Out on a limb: The role of context and impression management in selling gender-equality issues. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43, 23–57. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393590 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bandura, A. & Schunk, D. H. (1981). Cultivating competence, self-efficacy, and intrinsic interest through proximal self-motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 586–598. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.41.3.586 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Baron, R. M. & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bass, B. M. & Avolio, B. J. (1995). Multifactor leadership questionnaire. Binghamton, NY: Center for Leadership Studies. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Detert, J. & Burris, E. (2007). Leadership behavior and employee voice: Is the door really open? Academy of Management Journal, 50, 869–884. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2007.26279183 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Detert, J. & Edmondson, A. (2011). Implicit voice theories: Taken-for-granted rules of self-censorship at work. Academy of Management Journal, 54, 461–488. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2011.61967925 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Dvir, T. E., Eden, D., Avolio, B. J. & Shamir, B. (2002). Impact of transformational leadership on follower development and performance: A field experiment. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 735–744. https://doi.org/10.2307/3069307 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Facione, P. A. (1990). The Delphi report. Critical thinking: A statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. Millbrae, CA: California Academic Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Facione, P. A. (2011). Critical thinking: What it is and why it counts. Millbrae, CA: Measured Reasons. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Facione, P. A., Facione, N. C. & Giancarlo, C. A. (1997). Professional judgement and the disposition toward critical thinking. Millbrae, CA: California Academic Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Harrigan, A. & Vincenti, V. (2004). Developing higher-order thinking through an intercultural assignment: A scholarship of teaching inquiry project. College Teaching, 52, 113–120. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hoyle, R. H. (2012). Handbook of structural equation modeling: Foundations and extensions. New York, NY: Guilford. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jiang, J. & Yang, B. (2015). Roles of creative process engagement and leader-member exchange in critical thinking and employee creativity. Social Behavior and Personality, 43, 1217–1232. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2015.43.7.1217 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Jung, D. I. (2000). Transformational and transactional leadership and their effects on creativity in groups. Creativity Research Journal, 13, 185–195. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326934CRJ1302_6 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kelloway, E. K. (1996). Common practices in structural equation modeling. In C. L. CooperI. T. RobertsonEds., International review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 141–180). Chichester, UK: Wiley. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • King, P. M. & Kitchener, K. S. (2004). Reflective judgment: Theory and research on the development of epistemic assumptions through adulthood. Educational Psychologist, 39, 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3901_2 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • King, P. M., Kitchener, K. S. & Wood, P. K. (1994). Developing reflective judgment: Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kish-Gephart, J. J., Detert, J. R., Treviño, L. K. & Edmondson, A. C. (2009). Silenced by fear: The nature, sources, and consequences of fear at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 29, 163–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2009.07.002 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Lam, C. F. & Mayer, D. M. (2013). When do employees speak up for their customers? A model of voice in a customer service context. Personnel Psychology, 3, 637–666. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12050 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • LePine, J. A. & Van Dyne, L. (1998). Predicting voice behavior in work groups. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 853–868. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.83.6.853 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • LePine, J. A. & Van Dyne, L. (2001). Voice and cooperative behavior as contrasting forms of contextual performance: Evidence of differential relationships with Big Five personality characteristics and cognitive ability. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 326–336. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.2.326 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Liang, J., Farh, C. C. & Farh, J. L. (2012). Psychological antecedents of promotive and prohibitive voice: A two-wave examination. Academy of Management Journal, 55, 71–92. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0176 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Liu, W., Zhu, R. H. & Yang, Y. K. (2010). I warn you because I like you: Voice behavior, employee identifications, and transformational leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 21, 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.10.014 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Morrison, E. W. (2014). Employee voice and silence. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1, 173–197. http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091328 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Morrison, E. W., Wheeler-Smith, S. L. & Kamdar, D. (2011). Speaking up in groups: A cross-level study of group voice climate and voice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 183–191. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020744 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Nikolaou, I., Vakola, M. & Bourantas, D. (2008). Who speaks up at work? Dispositional influences on employees’ voice behavior. Personnel Review, 37, 666–679. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2002). Critical thinking. Tools for taking charge of your learning and your life. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Preacher, K. J. & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ross, M. (1989). Relation of implicit theories to the construction of personal histories. Psychological Review, 96, 341–357. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.96.2.341 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Seibert, S., Kraimer, M. L. & Crant, J. M. (2001). What do proactive people do? A longitudinal model linking proactive personality and career success. Personnel Psychology, 54, 845–874. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2001.tb00234.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Van Dyne, L. V., Ang, S. & Botero, I. C. (2003). Conceptualizing employee silence and employee voice as multidimensional constructs. Journal of Management Studies, 40, 1359–1392. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00384 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Wang, A., Hsieh, H., Tsai, C. & Cheng, B. (2012). Does value congruence lead to voice? Cooperative voice and cooperative silence under team and differentiated transformational leadership. Management and Organization Review, 8, 341–370. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8784.2011.00255.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Wei, X., Zhang, Z. X. & Chen, X. P. (2015). I will speak up if my voice is socially desirable: A moderated mediating process of promotive versus prohibitive voice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 5, 1641–1652. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039046 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Wu, J. B., Tsui, A. S. & Kinicki, A. J. (2010). Consequences of differentiated leadership in groups. Academy of Management Journal, 53, 90–106. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2010.48037079 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Yanchar, S. C., Slife, B. D. & Warne, R. (2008). Critical thinking in disciplinary practice. Review of General Psychology, 12, 265–281. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.12.3.265 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar