1273: Silence from the Middle: Examining the Curvilinear Relationship Between Employee Status and Voice (20798)

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Teams, where employees can freely express their constructive suggestions and opinions, can lead to various positive outcomes. However, the reality is that only a few members are willing to raise their voice, while the majority prefer to keep silent. In this study, we offer an explanation for this phenomenon by drawing insights from the theory of middle-status conformity. We propose a curvilinear relationship between employee status and their upward voice, suggesting that middle-status employees are less likely to speak up to their managers than higher- and lower-status employees. Using two social network-based field studies in different settings, as well as a scenario study, we provide convergent evidence to support the curvilinear relationship between status and voice as we proposed. Additionally, we find that leader-member exchange (LMX) plays a role in alleviating the unique challenges faced by middle-status employees, and we identify the mediating effect of status-based role expectation in accounting for their relationship. Last, we demonstrate how the voice of middle-status employees contributes to team objective performance, even when controlling for the voice of the higher- and lower-status employees. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.

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