۱- Introduction

۲- Theory and hypotheses

۳- Method

۴- Results

۵- Discussion

۶- Conclusion

References

Abstract

Most research assumes that job stressors decrease employees’ voice behavior. However, looking at research about job stressors and OCB (including voice), not all types of stressors have the same effects. The purpose of our research is to develop a new research model relating to the different effects of challenge stressors and hindrance stressors on voice behavior. Drawing on ego depletion theory, we propose that the relationship between stressors and voice behavior is mediated by employees’ ego depletion change. Further, we tested the moderating effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) on the relationship between stressors and subsequent ego depletion. We examined the hypothesized relationships using data collected in China from 346 employees on three consecutive days. As hypothesized, we found that ego depletion mediates the relationship between stressors and voice behavior. Also, LMX strengthens the positive relationship between hindrance stressors and subsequent ego depletion. We discuss implications for research and practice.

Introduction

Voice is defined as speaking up in ways that challenge the status quo towards someone with the perceived power to act (Detert & Burris, 2007). Research has shown that voice is linked to organizational performance (Perlow & Williams, 2003), managerial effectiveness (Morrison, 2011) and reduced staff turnover (McClean, Burris, & Detert, 2013). In view of these positive effects of voice in the workplace, it is important to investigate the antecedents of voice behavior. Particularly, we focus on the role of job stressors in predicting voice behavior (Morrison, 2014). Understanding how stressors facilitate or hinder voice behavior is essential for organizations, given the prevalence of job stressors. Research has consistently supported the view that job stressors are negatively related to voice behavior. For example, Li, Liang, and Farh (2018) found that perceived organizational politics, which is a type of job stressor, decrease employees’ voice behavior. Chiaburu, Marinova, and Van Dyne (2008) proposed that role overload and time pressure are negatively related to voice behavior. In a meta-analysis, Ng and Feldman (2012) found a negative relationship between various job stressors and voice behavior. However, research on the relationship between job stressors and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), which often includes voice behavior as a key component, implies a more complex picture. The findings suggest that not all types of stressors have negative effects on organizational citizenship behavior. Whereas hindrance stressors are negatively related to OCB, stressors that challenge employees are positively related to OCB (Rodell & Judge, 2009; Wallace, Edwards, Arnold, Frazier, & Finch, 2009). Such findings suggest the relationship between some job stressors and voice behavior could be positive, and thus the previous conclusion of an exclusively negative relation might be inaccurate. Our study addresses this issue by differentiating between types of stressors, namely challenge stressors and hindrance stressors. We argue that different types of stressors have different effects on voice. We draw on ego depletion theory (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998) to understand the effects of different job stressors on voice behavior. Baumeister et al. (1998) defined ego depletion as “a temporary reduction in the self’s capacity to engage in volitional action caused by the prior exercise of volition” (p. 1253). We argue that challenge and hindrance stressors have opposing effects on subsequent ego depletion ––the depletion of self-regulatory resources –– and that ego depletion, in turn, affects voice.