This chapter shows the result after analyzing the data collected of relationship among locus of control, agreeableness, extraversion, employee silence. Locus of control consists of two dimensions-internal control and chance. Hypotheses examined in this research were (1) Locus of control is positively related to employee silence. (2) Agreeableness will moderate the relationship between locus of control and employee silence. Under high level of Agreeableness, the positive relationship between locus of control and employee silence will be stronger. (3) Extraversion will moderate the relationship between locus of control and employee silence.
Under high level of extraversion, the positive relationship between locus of control and employee silence will be weaker. Pearson correlation and hierarchical regression analysis were used to examine the hypotheses.
Table 4.1
Summary of Hypothesis Results
Hypothesis Description Result
H1 External locus of control is positively related to employee silence.
Supported
H2 Agreeableness will moderate the relationship between locus of control and employee silence. Under high level of
Agreeableness, the positive relationship between locus of control and employee silence will be stronger.
Supported
H3 Extraversion will moderate the relationship between locus of control and employee silence. Under high level of extraversion, the positive relationship between locus of control and employee silence will be weaker.
Supported
Reliability
Reliability test was used to examine the quality of the scale adopted. There were 7 items measuring the dependent variable, Employee Silence. The Cronbach alpha value was 0.918.
As for independent variable, LOC, 6 items were used to measure it and the Cronbach alpha value was 0.60. Furthermore, the Cronbach alpha value of agreeableness’ 10 items was 0.85.
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Lastly, the Cronbach alpha value of extraversion’s 10 items was 0.91.
Table 4.2
Reliability Scale: LOC, Employee Silence, Agreeableness and Extraversion (N=260)
Scale Item Number Cronbach Alpha Value
External LOC 6 .60
Employee Silence 7 .92
Agreeableness 10 .85
Extraversion 10 .91
Descriptive Statistics of Participants
Explicit demographic information about 260 participants was revealed in this part. Factors that were included were:
Gender
Age
Educational Background
Annual Income
The sample of this study consists of 96 males (36.9%) and 164 females (63.1%). The majority of respondents are within 23 to 50 years old (82.7%) with a high educational background (83.3% have college degree or higher). While 51.2% respondents have an annual income less than $40000, 28.1% respondents have an annual income within $40001 to $60000;
5.4% respondents earn at least $80000 or higher, and 0% respondents were unwilling to report their annual income information. 84.2% were employees working in KMT Party and Democratic Progressive Party with an average age of 37. There are 61.53% employees working less than 5 years. Only 6.15% works from 5 to 10 years in the company.
The rest 32.3% works over 10 years in the current organization.
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Table 4.3
Participants Demographic Statistics (N=260)
Category Item Frequency Percentage(%)
Gender Female 164 63.1
Male 96 36.9
Educational Background
Senior high school 20 7.7
College 22 8.5
Bachelor Degree 136 52.3
Master Degree 75 28.8
Doctor Degree 7 2.7
Age Under 20 1 0.03
21-30 112 43.07
31-40 51 19.61
41-50 51 19.61
51 and over 45 17.30
Tenure Under 5 160 61.53
5-10 16 6.15
10 and over 84 32.30
Annual Income Less than $40000 132 51.2
$40001 to $60000 72 28.1
$80000 or $100000 14 5.4
Higher than$100000 42 16
Organization DPP 100 38
KMT 100 38
Other organizations 60 36
Descriptive and Correlation Analysis
This session examines whether significant correlations exist among ESB, LOC, EXA and AGR .Table 4.4 presents the mean, standard deviation, correlation, and reliability.
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Table 4.4
Mean, Standard Deviation, Correlation and Reliability of Variable (N=260)
Variable Mean S.D. 1 2 3 4
1.LOC 3.2468 .47738 (.60)
2.ESB 2.9786 .68697 .322** (.92)
3.EXA 3.1731 .57433 .246** -.374** (.91)
4.AGR 3.7031 .43138 .204** .284** .444** (.85)
*p <.05, **p <.01
Note: LOC=Locus of control, ESB=Employee Silence Behavior, EXA=Extraversion, AGR=Agreeableness; Number in parenthesis is Cronbach alpha value
Table 4.4 presents the means, standard deviations, and correlations among all the constructs of the research interest. The results show that all the constructs are positively correlated (p < 0.01) and Cronbach’s Alpha reliability scores for most of the constructs are above 0.7, indicating good reliability of all the measurements except for LOC.
As table 4.4 shows, we found a significant positive correlation between LOC and employee silence behavior (r=.322, p <.01).Therefore, H1 is supported. In addition, these LOC scores did correlate positively with extraversion (r=.246, p <.01) and agreeableness (r=.204, p
<.01). Furthermore, employee silence behavior is also positively correlated with extraversion (r=.-374, p <.01) and agreeableness (r=.284, p <.01). Finally, our analysis showed that these extraversion is highly correlated with agreeableness at the same time (r=.444, p <.01).
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Before testing the hypotheses, the researcher perform CFA to evaluate the fit of our data to a measurement model by using M Plus. As noted by Joreskog (1993, p. 309), “since chi-square is N – 1 times the minimum value of the fit function, the chi-chi-square test tends to be large in large samples.” Because of the large effect of sample size on the chi-square values (and associated p values), other fit indices were also selected to measure the fit of the tested models (Nunkoo, Ramkissoon, & Gursoy 2013). The fit between the measurement model and data was thus assessed by the following standard indices: comparative fit index (CFI) = .90; Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = .90. Furthermore, the indicators of residuals, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = .061, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) =
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0.079. All of the above indicated that the measurement model fit the data well and the overall fit indices were appropriate.
Hierarchical Regression Analysis
The last session showed the correlation between each variable. Based on the result which has been discussed before, locus of control is positively related to employee silence .Therefore, this part is going to present the hierarchical regression analysis result to examine the relationship among locus of control, extraversion, agreeableness and employee silence.
Table 4.5
Results of Moderating Effect of Agreeableness for the Relationship Between LOC and Employee Silence (N=260)
Notes: Two-tailed tests of significance. N = 260. DV = Employee Silence.
Table 4.5 presents the results of one hierarchical regression analysis for the moderating effect of agreeableness fit on the relationship between LOC and employee silence. LOC×AGR interaction term (∆R2 = .012, p < .05) adds significant incremental variance, indicating that agreeableness does play a significant moderating role for the relationship between LOC and employee silence. The interaction plot is then created using the result numbers to show a clear moderating effect of agreeableness. As figure 4.1 indicates, subjects who perceive high agreeableness report significantly higher silence intentions than do those who perceive low agreeableness when the LOC effect is high. This provides support for H2, that agreeableness will moderate the relationship between locus of control and employee silence. Under high level of Agreeableness, the positive relationship between locus of control and employee silence will be stronger.
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Figure 4.1 The moderating effect of agreeableness in the relationship between locus of control and employee silence.
Table 4.6 indicates the results of one hierarchical regression analysis for the moderating effect of extraversion on the relationship between LOC and employee silence. LOC×EXA interaction term (∆R2 = .013, p < .05) shows significant incremental variance, indicating that extraversion does play a significant moderating role for the relationship between LOC and employee silence. The interaction plot is then created using the result numbers to show a clear moderating effect of extraversion. As figure 4.2 indicates, subjects who perceive high extraversion report significantly lower silence intentions than do those who perceive low extraversion when the LOC effect is high. This provides support for H3, that extraversion will moderate the relationship between locus of control and employee silence. Under high level of extraversion, the positive relationship between locus of control and employee silence will be weaker.
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Table 4.6
Results of Moderating Effect of Extraversion for the Relationship Between LOC and Employee Silence (N=260)
Variable Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Beta t-value Beta t-value Beta t-value
Gender .074 1.194 .050 .895 .042 .749
LOC .245** 4.263 .239** 4.187
EXT .309** 5.371 .306** 5.344
LOC×EXT .115* 2.076
R2 .005 .198 .211
ΔR2 .005 .192** .013*
F 1.426 31.029** 4.309*
*p < .05. , **p < .01.
Notes: Two-tailed tests of significance. N = 260. DV = Employee Silence.
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Figure 4.2 The moderating effect of extraversion in the relationship between locus of control and employee silence.
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Discussion
This research is conducted to investigate the relationship among LOC, agreeableness, extraversion and employee silence. After examining the correlation and regression analysis, it is suggested that external locus of control has a significantly positive impact on employee silence. Namely, people with higher level of locus of control, the more silence behavior individuals will demonstrate in the organization. This result is similar to the finding of previous studies. For example, Pinder (2001) indicated that external locus of control is positively related to employee silence. In this study, Pinder investigates the relationship between several personality trait and silence behavior. The finding reveals that those who are external locus of control, high communication anxiety and low self-esteem will show more silence behavior within cultures of injustice.
This study also suggests that employees who are extravert is more likely to express their views and suggestions in the organization, and this finding is also in accordance with Lepine and Van Dyne study published in 2001. Lepine and VanDyne (2001) conduct a laboratory study of 276 individuals replicate previous finding for cooperative behavior as a form of contextual performance and extend previous study by providing evidence that voice maybe another of contextual performance. Their findings suggest that conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness related more strongly to task performance than to voice behavior or cooperative behavior. Their study also reveals that the possibility of bidirectional relationship with personality characteristic across different dimensions of job performance.
Many previous studies also show that dispositional factors are likely to affect voice.
Among one of the most comprehensive investigations of dispositional predictors, LePine and Van Dyne (2001) examine the relationship between voice within work groups and each of the Big Five personality dimensions (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Consistent with their predictions, they find voice to be more frequent among employees who are high on both conscientiousness and extraversion. When explaining these findings, they argue that individuals who are more conscientious are more willing to engage in conversations about how to improve things, whereas extraverted individuals are more comfortable with speaking up. Also consistent with their hypotheses, they find an inverse relationship between voice and both neuroticism and agreeableness. These findings make sense as well. Individuals who are high on the neuroticism dimension will be more nervous about voicing, and those who are highly agreeable will tend to go along with the status quo rather than challenging it.
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Based on trait activation theory, traits influence behavior only in relevant situations (Tett
& Guterman, 2000).We can infer that those who are high in extraversion trait will speak up under certain situations. Therefore, it is important to provide them incentives suitable for different individual traits. Personality traits also represent people’s thinking, value, and behaviors. Personality traits are quite stable-someone who scores high on a certain dimension like agreeableness is expected to be willing to maintain harmonious relationship with others in different situations and organization. In this study, we find that people’s agreeableness is positively correlated to silence behavior as well. Managers who are more agreeable are accustomed to follow the rule can perform better especially under low autonomy circumstances, and their work performance are better. Agreeableness may be more rule compliant and cooperative and therefore perform better when given a high degree of structure with pursuing the objective of the job. Therefore, those who are high in agreeable tends to follow the rule, which means that they will be more likely to show silence behavior (Barrick & Mount, 1993).
These traits shape the behavior of employees who perform extra role in the organization.
Therefore, we can conclude that personality trait plays an important role for employees’ voice intention.
Because most of the sample came from KMT party and DPP Party in Taiwan, this kind of organization is quite bureaucratic and hierarchical. People are often loath to reveal information that could be considered to be negative or damaging to those above them in an organizational hierarchy (Roberts & O’Reilly, 1974; Ryan & Oestreich, 1991). This unwillingness to speak up, and the silence or information withholding that it gives rise to, has the potential to undermine organizational decision making and error-correction and to damage employee trust and morale (Argyris & Schon, 1986; Beer & Eisenstat, 2000; Janis, 1982; Morrison & Milliken, 2000; Tamuz, 2001). Yet, as the above quote illustrates, remaining silent may make sense when it is considered from the perspective of the employee who fears that his or her manager will react negatively to the upward communication of concerns and may react further by taking steps that undermine the employee’s ability to work in the organization.
Based on Milliken (2003) research, bureaucratic organization will strengthen the atmosphere of employee silence. Therefore, it is important to enhance communication between management and employees in such organization. This study enhances the previous studies’
finding by providing a much more detail examination of agreeableness and extraversion regarding silence behavior in Taiwan’s nonprofit organization.
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