The predominant focus of much of the empirical research on voice has been on
identifying factors that increase or decrease the amount of voice behavior that
an employee engages in, presumably by affecting employees’ beliefs about
whether speaking up will be effective and safe, and/or their motivation to
contribute to the organization in constructive ways. This research has identified
a wide variety of factors, both contextual and individual, that affect
voice behavior or lack thereof. In this section, I review the findings, starting
first with contextual factors, and then discussing the impact of individual level
factors. As illustrated in Figure 1, both sets of antecedents operate by
affecting the two outcome-related considerations that precede the decision of
whether to voice. In reviewing this literature, my goal is not just to summarize
the empirical research, but also to help provide some theoretical integration.