Leaders’ Emotion Regulation and the Influence of Respect and Entitlement on Employee Silence

Abstract

Although numerous researchers have examined leaders’ behavior in promoting employee voice, so far, there have been limited empirical studies in interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) and employee silence literature. This study aims to investigate how leaders’ IER can break the barrier of employee silence through examining the mediating roles of perceived mutual recognition respect and psychological entitlement. To enhance sustainable organization practices, this may be the first study that identifies leaders’ IER strategies as an effective communication tool for diminishing employee silence. By collecting data from 315 management employees in Pakistan, the hypothesized relationships were tested using path analysis and bootstrapping technique with AMOS. Our findings support the mediating role of mutual recognition respect and psychological entitlement in leaders’ IER and employee silence relationship. More specifically, while mutual recognition respect mediates the relationship between leaders’ problem-focused strategies and employee silence, psychological entitlement mediates the association of both problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies with employee silence. In line with the research findings, we have highlighted some notable theoretical contributions and managerial implications. Further, we present limitations and future research directions.

The impact of emotional leadership on Chinese subordinates’ work engagement: role of intrinsic motivation and traditionality

“…When leaders effectively manage their own emotions and those of their subordinates and show care and support to their subordinates, subordinates are more engaged in their work and reward the organization. This confirms the insight that “leadership emotions are a deeper factor in employee engagement than employee emotions” [ 6 ].…”

“…In particular, leaders, as an important aspect of the work environment, often have significant impacts on subordinates’ emotions. Therefore, leaders’ emotions and emotion regulation strategies are one of the key causes of subordinates’ emotions, attitudes and behaviors [ 6 ].…”

The effects of illegitimate tasks on employee silence and voice behavior: moderated mediation model

“…In contrast, silence is a safe way to protect resources (Xu et al ., 2015). Employees will choose more silence and less voice to avoid potential resource threats when supervisors do not respect them (Khan et al ., 2022).…”

“…By examining the relationship between them, this study will provide practical value for the intervention of employee's voice and silence. On the other hand, stressors such as perceived unfairness and disrespect have been found to be associated with employees' voice and silence (De Clercq and Pereira, 2023; Khan et al ., 2022). Since illegitimate tasks convey unfairness and disrespect information (Schulte-Braucks et al ., 2019; Semmer et al ., 2015), it may be potentially related to employees' voice and silence.…”

Personality Traits, Emotion Regulation and Marital Satisfaction Among Women in Commuter Marriages

“…On the other hand, it is the general expectation from marriage or our society that partners tend to impose on each other characteristics that become the cause of burden or stress (Umubyeyi & Mtapuri., 2019). According to a recent analysis, it has been indicated that the divorce rate is around 4.08 per 1000 marriages across the world (Khan et al, 2022). In Pakistan, according to a recent survey around 69 percent of the population is married and 0.58% are being divorced due to different reasons that are enhancing with the passage of time (Ahmad et al, 2020).…”