Experimentally Investigating the Role of Voice Non-Endorsement Over Time: Implications for Innovation in Organizations

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IntroductionReporting problems or wrongdoings and suggesting ideas to improve functioning are crucialfor organizations' wellbeing, especially in today's increasingly competitive world. These conducts are known as "voice behaviors" and are defined as discretionary behaviors initiatedby workers to incite change in their environment by communicating information to individuals with decision making power (Detert et al., 2013; Van Dyne & LePine, 1998). Thesechange-oriented behaviors are at the root of innovative processes as workers are focusedon impacting their organizational environment by making efforts to promote personal ideas(Liang et al., 2019; Qin et al., 2014). Voice is a highly desirable behavior for allowing corrections of malfunctions and promoting new practices or innovations, and silence deprivesorganizations of these benefits. Having a sense of control through actions which producedesired results is fundamental to psychological functioning and is an important predictor ofmotivation for future actions in a particular situation or environment (Rauvola et al., 2022;Skinner, 1996). Therefore, repetitive failures of actions to produce desired results or to prevent aversive events may lead to less motivation for future efforts, to passivity, and, if failuresare repetitive enough, to helplessness (Maier & Seligman, 1976, 2016). The state of (learned)helplessness results from the repeated absence of action-outcome contingencies. People inthis state are reluctant to initiate actions for change, even if they could have impacted thesituation. It's as though they learned that their actions will not have a positive outcome, andthey generalize this reasoning to future similar situations. Applying helplessness concepts tovoice in organizations, workers who frequently express ideas that are rejected or not heardcould experience multiple action-outcome non-contingencies and choose to remain helplessand silent when a new opportunity for voice arises. This is an unfortunate outcome fororganizations which need the potential benefits of voice to incite innovations.

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