Abstract
Safety climate evolves in reflection of the effectiveness of organizational safety management efforts. The present study identified patterns of safety climate change over time and examined the role of error disclosure climate and counterfactual sharing in relation to safety climate change patterns. Online surveys were administered in a Chinese hospital three times at approximately 1-month intervals; the final sample included 451 healthcare workers nested within 62 teams. A latent growth mixture modeling approach was adopted to identify representative patterns of safety climate change at both individual and team levels and the predictors of those patterns. Three patterns of safety climate trajectories, declining (16%), improving (39%), and maintaining (45%), were identified at the individual level. Positive error disclosure climate and counterfactual sharing were significantly associated with increased probability of membership in the improving and maintaining trajectories compared to the declining trajectories. Counterfactual sharing mediated the relation between error disclosure climate and membership of safety climate trajectories. At the team level, two patterns of safety climate change, declining (15%) and improving (85%), were identified. Team counterfactual sharing was significantly associated with increased probability of membership in the improving trajectories compared to the declining trajectories. The current study demonstrated that an open and non-judgmental culture and the practice of sharing errors can contribute to improving safety climate over time.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2011.613995
Allen, J. A., Baran, B. E., & Scott, C. W. (2010). After-action reviews: A venue for the promotion of safety climate. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 42(2), 750–757. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2009.11.004
Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. (2014). Auxiliary variables in mixture modeling: Three-step approaches using Mplus. Structural Equation Modeling: a Multidisciplinary Journal, 21(3), 329–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2014.915181
Baek, T. H., Shen, L., & Reid, L. N. (2013). Effects of message framing in anti–binge drinking PSAs: The moderating role of counterfactual thinking. Journal of Health Communication, 18(4), 442–458. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2012.743621
Bakk, Z., & Vermunt, J. K. (2016). Robustness of Stepwise Latent Class Modeling with Continuous Distal Outcomes. Structural Equation Modeling: a Multidisciplinary Journal, 23(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2014.955104
Baer, M., & Frese, M. (2003). Innovation is not enough: Climates for initiative and psychological safety, process innovations, and firm performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior: the International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 24(1), 45–68. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.179
Bargh, J. A., Gollwitzer, P. M., Lee-Chai, A., Barndollar, K., & Trötschel, R. (2001). The automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(6), 1014–1027. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11761304
Bergman, M. E., Payne, S. C., Taylor, A. B., & Beus, J. M. (2014). The shelf life of a safety climate assessment: How long until the relationship with safety–critical incidents expires? Journal of Business and Psychology, 29(4), 519–540. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-013-9337-2
Beus, J. M., Payne, S. C., Bergman, M. E., & Arthur, W. R. (2010). Safety climate and injuries: An examination of theoretical and empirical relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 713–727. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019164
Beus, J. M., Payne, S. C., Arthur, W., Jr., & Muñoz, G. J. (2019). The development and validation of a cross-industry safety climate measure: Resolving conceptual and operational issues. Journal of Management, 45(5), 1987–2013. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206317745596
Berta, W., Cranley, L., Dearing, J. W., Dogherty, E. J., Squires, J. E., & Estabrooks, C. A. (2015). Why (we think) facilitation works: Insights from organizational learning theory. Implementation Science, 10(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-015-0323-0
Bliese, P. (2000). Within-group agreement, non-independence, and reliability. In K. Klein & S. Kozlowski (Eds.), Multi-level theory, research, and methods in organizations (pp. 349–381). Jossey-Bass.
Bliese, P. D., Maltarich, M. A., & Hendricks, J. L. (2018). Back to basics with mixed-effects models: Nine take-away points. Journal of Business and Psychology, 33(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-017-9491-z
Bolck, A., Croon, M., & Hagenaars, J. (2004). Estimating latent structure models with categorical variables: One-step versus three-step estimators. Political Analysis: an Annual Publication of the Methodology Section of the American Political Science Association, 12(1), 3–27. https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mph001
Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 185–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910457000100301
Buljac- Samardžic, M., van Woerkom, M., & Paauwe, J. (2012). Team safety and innovation by learning from errors in long-term care settings. Health Care Management Review, 37(3), 280. https://doi.org/10.1097/HMR.0b013e318231db33
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020), Employer-reported workplace injuries and illnesses. Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. Retrieved March 11, 2021 from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/osh.nr0.htm
Christian, M. S., Bradley, J. C., Wallace, J. C., & Burke, M. J. (2009). Workplace safety: A meta-analysis of the roles of person and situation factors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(5), 1103–1127. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016172
Coricelli, G., & Rustichini, A. (2010). Counterfactual thinking and emotions: Regret and envy learning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 365(1538), 241–247. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0159
Curran, P. J., & Hussong, A. M. (2003). The use of latent trajectory models in psychopathology research. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112(4), 526–544. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.112.4.526
Darling, M., Perry, C. S., & Moore, J. (2005). Learning in the thick of it. Harvard Business Review, 83(7), 84–92. 192.
Dillon, R. L., & Tinsley, C. H. (2008). How near-misses influence decision making under risk: A missed opportunity for learning. Management Science, 54(8), 1425–1440. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1080.0869
Enders, C. K. (2010). Applied missing data analysis: Guilford Press.
Epstude, K., & Roese, N. J. (2008). The functional theory of counterfactual thinking. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12(2), 168–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868308316091
Etchegaray, J. M., Gallagher, T. H., Bell, S. K., Dunlap, B., & Thomas, E. J. (2012). Error disclosure: A new domain for safety culture assessment. BMJ Quality & Safety, 21(7), 594–599. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2011-000530
Gilovich, T. (1983). Biased evaluation and persistence in gambling. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(6), 1110–1126. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.6.1110
Griffin, M. A., & Curcuruto, M. (2016). Safety climate in organizations. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 3, 191–212. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-041015-062414
Griffin, M. A., & Neal, A. (2000). Perceptions of safety at work: A framework for linking safety climate to safety performance, knowledge, and motivation. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(3), 347–358. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.5.3.347
He, Y., Payne, S. C., Yao, X., & Smallman, R. (2020). Improving workplace safety by thinking about what might have been: A first look at the role of counterfactual thinking. Journal of Safety Research, 72, 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2019.12.010
He, Y., Wang, Y., & Payne, S. C. (2019). How is safety climate formed? A meta-analysis of the antecedents of safety climate. Organizational Psychology Review, 9, 124–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386619874870
Henson, J. M., Reise, S. P., & Kim, K. H. (2007). Detecting mixtures from structural model differences using latent variable mixture modeling: A comparison of relative model fit statistics. Structural Equation Modeling: a Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(2), 202–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510709336744
James, L. R., Demaree, R. G., & Wolf, G. (1984). Estimating within-group interrater reliability with and without response bias. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.69.1.85
Kahneman, D., & Miller, D. T. (1986). Norm theory: Comparing reality to its alternatives. Psychological Review, 93(2), 136–153. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.93.2.136
Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Ilgen, D. R. (2006). Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and teams. Psychological Science in the Public Interest: A Journal of the American Psychological Society, 7(3), 77–124. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-1006.2006.00030.x
Larramendy-Magnin, S., Anthoine, E., L’Heude, B., Leclère, B., & Moret, L. (2019). Refining the medical student safety attitudes and professionalism survey (MSSAPS): Adaptation and assessment of patient safety perception of French medical residents. BMC Medical Education, 19(1), 222. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1667-y
LeBreton, J. M., & Senter, J. L. (2008). Answers to 20 questions about interrater reliability and interrater agreement. Organizational Research Methods, 11(4), 815–852. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428106296642
Lee, J., Huang, Y.-H., Cheung, J. H., Chen, Z., & Shaw, W. S. (2019a). A systematic review of the safety climate intervention literature: Past trends and future directions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 66–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000113
Lee, J., Huang, Y. H., Sinclair, R. R., & Cheung, J. H. (2019b). Outcomes of safety climate in trucking: A longitudinal framework. Journal of Business and Psychology, 34(6), 865–878. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-018-9610-5
Lee, J., Huang, Y. H., Dainoff, M. J., & He, Y. (2021). Where to focus? Insights from safety personnel and external safety consultants on lessons learned about safety climate interventions – A qualitative approach. Journal of Safety Research, 79, 51–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2021.08.005
Leveson, N. (2012). Engineering a safer world: Applying systems thinking to safety. MIT Press.
Liberty Mutual Insurance. (2019). 2019 Workplace Safety Index: The top 10 causes of disabling injuries at work. Retrieved from https://www.libertymutualgroup.com/about-liberty-mutual-site/news-site/Documents/2019%20Workplace%20Safety%20Index.pdf. Accessed 18 Jul 2021.
Lubke, G., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Performance of factor mixture models as a function of model size, covariate effects, and class-specific parameters. Structural Equation Modeling, 14(1), 26–47. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1401_2
Marucci-Wellman, H. R., Courtney, T. K., Corns, H. L., Sorock, G. S., Webster, B. S., Wasiak, R., Noy, Y. I., Matz, S., & Leamon, T. B. (2015). The direct cost burden of 13 years of disabling workplace injuries in the U.S. (1998–2010): Findings from the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index. Journal of Safety Research, 55, 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2015.07.002
Markman, K. D., McMullen, M. N., & Elizaga, R. A. (2008). Counterfactual thinking, persistence, and performance: A test of the Reflection and Evaluation Model. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 421–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2007.01.001
McCrea, S. M. (2008). Self-handicapping, excuse making, and counterfactual thinking: Consequences for self-esteem and future motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(2), 274–292. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.274
Mischel, W. (1973). Toward a cognitive social learning reconceptualization of personality. Psychological Review, 80(4), 252–283. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0035002
Morris, M. W., & Moore, P. C. (2000). The lessons we (don’t) learn: Counterfactual thinking and organizational accountability after a close call. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45(4), 737–765. https://doi.org/10.2307/2667018
Morris, M. W., Moore, P. C., & Sim, D. L. H. (1999). Choosing remedies after accidents: Counterfactual thoughts and the focus on fixing “human error.” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 6(4), 579–585. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212966
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2019). Mplus Software version 8.4. Muthén & Muthén.
Nahrgang, J. D., Morgeson, F. P., & Hofmann, D. A. (2011). Safety at work: A meta-analytic investigation of the link between job demands, job resources, burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 71–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021484
Neal, A., & Griffin, M. A. (2004). Safety climate and safety at work. In J. Barling & M. Frone (Eds.), The psychology of workplace safety (pp. 15–34). American Psychological Association.
Noble, D. J., & Pronovost, P. J. (2010). Underreporting of patient safety incidents reduces health care’s ability to quantify and accurately measure harm reduction. Journal of Patient Safety, 6(4), 247–250. https://doi.org/10.1097/pts.0b013e3181fd1697
Nylund, K. L., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling: a Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(4), 535–569. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701575396
Page, C. M., & Colby, P. M. (2003). If only I hadn’t smoked: The impact of counterfactual thinking on a smoking-related behavior. Psychology & Marketing, 20(11), 955–976. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.10104
Post, C. (2012). Deep-level team composition and innovation: The mediating roles of psychological safety and cooperative learning. Group & Organization Management, 37(5), 555–588. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601112456289
Ram, N., & Grimm, K. J. (2009). Methods and measures: Growth mixture modeling: A method for identifying differences in longitudinal change among unobserved groups. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33(6), 565–576. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0165025409343765
Ramaswamy, V., Desarbo, W. S., Reibstein, D. J., & Robinson, W. T. (1993). An empirical pooling approach for estimating marketing mix elasticities with PIMS data. Marketing Science, 12(1), 103–124. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.12.1.103
Reiter-Palmon, R., Kennel, V., Allen, J. A., Jones, K. J., & Skinner, A. M. (2015). Naturalistic decision making in after-action review meetings: The implementation of and learning from post-fall huddles. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88(2), 322–340. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12084
Roese, N. J. (1994). The functional basis of counterfactual thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66(5), 805–818. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.66.5.805
Roese, N. J. (1997). Counterfactual thinking. Psychological Bulletin, 121(1), 133–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.121.1.133
Roese, N. J., & Epstude, K. (2017). The functional theory of counterfactual thinking: New evidence, new challenges, new insights. In (Ed.),: Vol. . Advances in experimental social psychology. In J. M. Olson (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 56, pp. 1–79) Elsevier Academic Press.
Roese, N. J., & Olson, J. M. (1997). Counterfactual thinking: The intersection of affect and function. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 29, 1–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60015-5
Rye, M. S., Cahoon, M. B., Ali, R. S., & Daftary, T. (2008). Development and validation of the Counterfactual Thinking for Negative Events Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 90(3), 261–269. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890701884996
Saleh, S., Nisar, H. G., Rezwan, A. S., & Nijatmal, A. (2020). Affective commitment and safety climate: Mediating role of self-efficacy. International Journal of Business and Economic Affairs, 5(6), 321–330. https://doi.org/10.24088/IJBEA-2020-56005
Sanna, L. J., & Turley-Ames, K. J. (2000). Counterfactual intensity. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30(2), 273–296. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(200003/04)30:2%3c273::AID-EJSP993%3e3.0.CO;2-Y
Sanna, L. J., & Turley, K. J. (1996). Antecedents to spontaneous counterfactual thinking: Effects of expectancy violation and outcome valence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 906–919. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167296229005
Schneider, B., Ehrhart, M. G., & Macey, W. H. (2013). Organizational climate and culture. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 361–388. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143809
Sokas, R. K., Jorgensen, E., Nickels, L., Gao, W., & Gittleman, J. L. (2009). An intervention effectiveness study of hazard awareness training in the construction building trades. Public Health Reports, 124(4_suppl1), 161–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549091244S118
Stoto, M. A., Nelson, C., Piltch-Loeb, R., Mayigane, L. N., Copper, F., & Chungong, S. (2019). Getting the most from after action reviews to improve global health security. Globalization and Health, 15, 58. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-019-0500-z
Takala, J., Hämäläinen, P., Saarela, K. L., Yun, L. Y., Manickam, K., Jin, T. W., . . . Lin, G. S. (2014). Global estimates of the burden of injury and illness at work in 2012. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 11(5), 326–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2013.863131
Taylor, J. A., Davis, A. L., Shepler, L. J., Lee, J., Cannuscio, C., Zohar, D., & Resick, C. J. (2019). Development and validation of the fire service safety climate scale. Safety Science, 118, 126–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2019.05.007
Tripathi, M., & Srivastava, B. N. (2016). When and how does counterfactual thinking prevent catastrophes and foster group decision accuracy. International Journal of Conflict Management, 27(2), 249–274. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-02-2015-0008
Villado, A. J., & Arthur, W., Jr. (2013). The comparative effect of subjective and objective after-action reviews on team performance on a complex task. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(3), 514–528. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031510
von Thiele Schwarz, U., Hasson, H., & Tafvelin, S. (2016). Leadership training as an occupational health intervention: Improved safety and sustained productivity. Safety Science, 81, 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.07.020
Weick, K. E. (1991). The nontraditional quality of organizational learning. Organization Science, 2(1), 116–124. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2.1.116
Weick, K. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Sage Publication.
Weick, K. E., & Westley, F. (1996). Organizational learning: Affirming an oxymoron. In S. R. Clegg, C. Hardy, & W. R. Nord (Eds.), Handbook of organization studies (pp. 440–458). Sage Publications Inc.
Zohar, D. (2003). Safety climate: Conceptual and measurement issues. In J. C. Quick & L. E. Tetrick (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology (pp. 123–142). American Psychological Association.
Zohar, D., & Luria, G. (2003). The use of supervisory practices as leverage to improve safety behavior: A cross-level intervention model. Journal of Safety Research, 34(5), 567–577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2003.05.006
Zuschlag, M., Ranney, J. M., & Coplen, M. (2016). Evaluation of a safety culture intervention for Union Pacific shows improved safety and safety culture. Safety Science, 83, 59–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.10.001
Acknowledgements
We thank Prof. Stephanie Payne at Texas A&M University for her early revisions and suggestions on the survey design in the current study.
Funding
Funding was provided by The National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 31671121, 32171075).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
All procedures performed in this study that involved human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendices
Appendix 1 Counterfactual sharing items
-
1.
We discuss what could have been done to change the negative outcomes.
-
2.
We reevaluate the negative events and rethink alternative ways to alter past events.
-
3.
Our supervisor encourages us to reflect on the negative events and search for solutions that could prevent reoccurrence together.
Scale: 1 = Never; 2 = Rarely; 3 = Sometimes; 4 = Often; 5 = Very Often
Appendix 2
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
He, Y., Lee, J., Huang, Yh. et al. Error Disclosure Climate and Safety Climate Trajectories: the Mediating Role of Counterfactual Sharing. J Bus Psychol 38, 907–924 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-022-09830-2
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-022-09830-2