Psychological safety and teacher voice behavior: Power distance orientation in Chinese schools

The present paper explores the question of the association between psychological safety and teacher voice behavior in Chinese K-12 schools and elucidates the contexts and mechanisms of such an association that become variable in the framework of hierarchical value orientations. Referring to the Social Cognitive Theory and voice decision models according to which the perceived risk (safety) and the perceived effectiveness (instrumentality) are distinct, we maintain that psychologically safe school climates minimize the interpersonal risk and create the conditions of developing voice-related efficacy beliefs. Based on the in-person survey results of full-time teachers in Nanjing, Wuhan, Xi'an and Hangzhou; (N = 402) we estimated a moderated mediation model using PLS-SEM in SmartPLS (5000 bootstrap resamples). Promotive voice and prohibitive voice had a positive relationship with psychological safety. Voice self-efficacy was also positively correlated with voice dimensions, as well as explained the psychological safety-voice relationships in part. The effect of the psychological safety on the voice self-efficacy and the indirect effects were moderated by power distance orientation. In general, the results indicate that psychologically safe climates are positively related to teacher speaking up, yet the relationship between the two is contingent on the values of teachers that are hierarchy-oriented.