When do emotionally exhausted employees speak up? Exploring the potential curvilinear relationship between emotional exhaustion and voice

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to address the potential nonlinear relationship between emotional exhaustion and voice. Study 1 developed and tested a model rooted in conservation of resources theory in which responses to emotional exhaustion are determined by individual-level and group-level conditions that influence the perceived safety and efficacy of voice and drive prohibitive voice behaviors by giving rise to either resource-conservation-based or resource-acquisition-based motivation. Specifically, there was a curvilinear (U-shaped) relationship between emotional exhaustion and prohibitive voice under conditions of (i) high job security and (ii) high interactional justice climate, but a linearly negative relationship when these resources were low. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings to include an empirical examination of these effects on promotive versus prohibitive voice. Results confirmed the findings of Study 1, provided evidence of differences in the nomological networks of promotive and prohibitive voice, and indicated that prohibitive voice is more salient to the experience of high emotional strain. Implications of the findings and areas for future research are discussed.