How and When are Frequent Voicers Treated Badly? Employee Voice Behavior and Coworker Victimization

While employee’s voice behaviors substantially contribute to their workgroups and organizations, research has indicated that it also involves social costs for those express voice – being negatively viewed and victimized by their coworkers in the same team. Drawing on the person perception perspective and idiosyncratic credits theory, we develop a theoretical model outlining how and when those who speak up experience coworker victimization. Results of survey data from a round-robin design (N = 532 dyads with 195 members in 56 work teams) indicates that frequent voice behavior tends to be perceived as displays of hubris by coworkers and therefore would likely be sanctioned through coworkers’ victimization; this happens especially in teams low in voice density and for voicers in more peripheral positions of advice network.