Avoiding Moral Divergence: A Self‐Verification Perspective on Why and When Team Ethical Conflict Inhibits Individual Ethical Voice

ABSTRACT Although contextual factors have been shown to facilitate ethical voice, research on team‐level antecedents that may inhibit it has been limited. Drawing on self‐verification theory, we develop a multilevel moderation–mediation model that examines how team ethical conflict inhibits individual ethical voice. Ethical self‐verification perception is identified as a mediator and team independence climate as a moderator. Results from a time lagged study of 235 employees working in 58 teams in seven Chinese organizations show that team ethical conflict has a cross‐level influence on individual ethical voice, mediated by ethical self‐verification perception. Moreover, team independence climate amplifies the negative effect of team ethical conflict on ethical self‐verification perception and its indirect negative effect on individual ethical voice. These findings offer theoretical and managerial implications for ethical conflict and voice research.