How and when supervisors reward subordinates' voice: the role of supervisors' trust

Purpose Based on the followership theory and attribution theory, this study aims to explore the consequences for subordinate's voice behavior and investigate the mediating role of supervisor trust. Additionally, it also examines the moderating effects of supervisor's prosocial motivation attribution and power distance orientation. Design/methodology/approach A series of questionnaire surveys were conducted to collect data in two time-lags and multiple sources from 208 supervisor-subordinate pairs from three tertiary hospitals in a central province. A path model was specified to test the hypothesized structural relationships in our model using PROCESS macro. Findings The results show that supervisor trust mediates the relationship between subordinate's voice behavior and empowering behavior. Furthermore, power distance orientation moderates both the direct relationship between trust and empowering behavior, and the indirect effect of voice behavior on empowerment through trust. The interaction of prosocial motivation attribution and power distance orientation jointly influences this indirect effect. Originality/value This study confirms the effect of subordinate's voice behavior on empowering behavior and extends the theoretical basis of this relationship. It also hopes to provide inspiration and reference for local management in China.