How Superior–Subordinate Relationship Quality and Conflict Management Styles Influence an Employee's Use of Upward Dissent Tactics

Abstract

AbstractThis study examined employees’ use of upward dissent tactics to express disagreement with organizational policies or practices to their supervisors. Employees (N = 242) from three organizations completed a survey instrument in which they reported the types of upward dissent tactics and types of conflict management styles they used with their supervisors as well as their perceptions of the quality of those relationships. The integrating conflict management style was positively correlated with the prosocial dissent tactic and negatively correlated with the threatening resignation dissent tactic. The dominating conflict management style was positively correlated with threatening resignation, circumvention, and repetition dissent tactics. When looking at relationships between the use of upward dissent tactics, superior–subordinate relationship quality, and conflict management styles, we found that conflict management styles were a stronger predictor of the use of upward dissent tactics than superior–subordinate relationship quality. Implications for employee voice are discussed.