Abstract
Drawing on social exchange theory, this study investigates whether supervisor-subordinate guanxi(SSG) promotes voice behavior in university teachers. Posting organizational identification as a mediator and traditionality as a moderator, we constructed a moderated mediation model. A sample of 218 Chinese university teachers completed a two-stage questionnaire, and the data obtained were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The findings reveal that SSG can positively predict the voice behavior of university teachers, and organizational identification partially mediates the relationship between SSG and voice behavior. Moreover, traditionality negatively moderates the relationship of SSG on voice behavior via organizational identification.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Funding
This research was funded by Guangdong Planning Project of Philosophy and Social Science (GD21CJY02), Guangdong Planning Research Project of Education and Science (No.2020GXJK405, No. 2023GXJK324).
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Jianji Zeng contributed to the Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Data Curation, and Writing-Original. Liuxiang Li contributed to the Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing-Review & Editing. Li Ding contributed to the Conceptualization, Writing-Review & Editing. Qixiu Wang contributed to the Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing-Review & Editing, and Supervision. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Appendix A: Questionnaire
Appendix A: Questionnaire
Please select the most appropriate number on the right side of the following sentence and tick “√” to reflect your actual situation,1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
Supervisor-subordinate guanxi (SSG)
SSG1 | During holidays or after office hours, I would call my supervisor or visit him/her | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
SSG2 | My supervisor invites me to his/her home for lunch or dinner | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
SSG3 | On special occasions such as my supervisor’s birthday, I would definitely visit my supervisor and send him/her gifts | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
SSG4 | I always actively share with my supervisor about my thoughts, problems, needs and feelings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
SSG5 | I care about and have a good understanding of my supervisor’s family and work conditions | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
SSG6 | When there are conflicting opinions, I will definitely stand on my supervisor’s side | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Organization identification (OI)
OI1 | When someone criticizes my school, it feels like a personal insult | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
OI2 | I am very interested in what others think about my school | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
OI3 | When I talk about my school, I usually say “we” rather than “they” | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
OI4 | My school school's successes are my successes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
OI5 | When someone praises my school, it feels like a personal compliment | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
OI6 | If a story in the media criticized my school, I would feel embarrassed | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Voice behavior (VB)
VB1 | My co-worker develops and makes recommendations concerning issues that affect this work group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
VB2 | My co-worker speaks up and encourages others in this group to get involved in issues that affect the group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
VB3 | My co-worker communicates his/her opinions about work issues to others in this group even if his/her opinion is different and others in the group disagree with him/her | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
VB4 | My co-worker keeps well informed about issues where his/her opinion might be useful to this work group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
VB5 | My co-worker gets involved in issues that affect the quality of work life here in this group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
VB6 | My co-worker speaks up in this group with ideas for new projects or changes in procedures | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Traditionality (TR)
TR1 | The chief government official is like the head of a household. The citizen should obey his decisions on all state matters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
TR2 | The best way to avoid mistakes is to follow the instructions of senior persons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
TR3 | Before marriage, a woman should subordinate herself to her father. After marriage, to her husband | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
TR4 | When people are in dispute, they should ask the most senior person to decide who is right | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
TR5 | Those who are respected by parents should be respected by their children | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
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Zeng, J., Li, L., Ding, L. et al. Traditionality, supervisor-subordinate guanxi and university teachers’ voice behavior: an empirical exploration in the context of Chinese culture. Curr Psychol 43, 17390–17405 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-05698-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-05698-y