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The curvilinear relationship between job satisfaction and employee voice: Speaking up for the organization and the self

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Abstract

Integrating the self-serving effect of voice with the literature that emphasizes the prosocial motive of voice behavior, this study investigates the possibility of a U-shaped curvilinear relationship between job satisfaction and voice behavior. The findings show that different voice beliefs (employees’ prosocial and self-protective voice beliefs) moderate the U-shaped curvilinear relationship with distinct patterns. Specifically, for employees with a stronger prosocial voice belief the relationship between job satisfaction and voice is more positive at high levels of job satisfaction and less negative at low levels of job satisfaction. Self-protective voice belief attenuates the relationship between job satisfaction and voice at both high and low levels of job satisfaction, resulting in a less U-shaped relationship for employees with a stronger self-protective voice belief. These findings support our arguments about the coexistence of multiple motives of voice and their relative strength across different levels of job satisfaction.

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  1. Department of Management and Marketing, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau

    Xiaowan Lin, Long W. Lam & Lida L. Zhang

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  1. Xiaowan Lin
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Lin, X., Lam, L.W. & Zhang, L.L. The curvilinear relationship between job satisfaction and employee voice: Speaking up for the organization and the self. Asia Pac J Manag 37, 587–607 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-018-9622-8

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