The Creative Class: Navigating the Dynamics of Organisational Silence, Social Undermining, and Intrinsic Motivation

Aim: This study investigates how intrinsic motivation among the creative class moderates the relationship between social undermining and organizational silence. Drawing on Conservation of Resources Theory and Social Exchange Theory, it explores the dynamics of these relationships and the factors that influence employee silence in the workplace. The goal is to understand how intrinsic motivation impacts how employees respond to social undermining and how this response affects organizational silence. Method: This study focuses on identifying the conditions under which employees remain silent in the face of social undermining and the underlying dynamics that drive this behavior. By analyzing different levels of intrinsic motivation, the study provides insights into the complex interactions between managerial behavior and employee silence. Results: The findings reveal that for employees with low intrinsic motivation, the relationship between managerial undermining and protective silence remains consistent. In contrast, for employees with high intrinsic motivation, defensive silence decreases as managerial undermining increases, while protective silence increases. These results suggest that employees with high intrinsic motivation are more likely to engage in protective silence as a response to social undermining, rather than defensive silence, which may indicate a higher sense of control or resilience in the workplace. Conclusion: These results underscore the importance of intrinsic motivation in understanding how employees respond to social undermining and its implications for organizational silence. The study offers valuable insights for both researchers and practitioners, highlighting the need for more focused leadership and management strategies that account for the varying effects of motivation on employee behavior in the workplace.