Speaking Up at Work: The Role of Perceived Organizational Support in Explaining the Relationship Between Perceptions of Organizational Politics and Voice Behavior

Voice is a risky and more challenging type of organizational citizenship behavior in that it is designed to bring about change. Using conservation of resources and social exchange theories, we investigate relationships between voice, perceptions of organizational politics, and perceived organizational support (POS). We also investigate the mediating role of POS in the politics-voice relationship to determine the extent to which POS can explain this relationship. Lagged survey data from supervisor-employee dyads (N = 257) were collected 6 weeks apart. Results show that perceptions of organizational politics were negatively related to voice, while POS was positively related to voice. POS had a mediating effect on the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and voice. Our results underscore the importance of contextual factors in encouraging or prohibiting voice and may help managers and organizations understand how best to encourage this important change-oriented workplace behavior.