Psychosocial Safety Climate: Past, Present, and Future Research

Abstract

A systematic review was conducted on the facet-specific climate for psychosocial safety [psychosocial safety climate (PSC)] that has been featured in the literature. Specifically, we sought answers regarding the roles, impacts, research trend, and challenges for PSC research. From our search of three databases, 113 articles peer-reviewed journal articles were identified of which 13 PSC articles qualified for the review. For comparative purposes we also considered research on other climate facets, safety climate (n = 59), and psychological safety climate (n = 16), published from 1980 to 2016. Although safety climate remains the dominant research interest, PSC surpassed psychological safety climate in terms of publications from 2010. We found that PSC has its own specific outcomes, whereby PSC was predominantly associated with psychological health. Evidence strongly supported the dual function of PSC, as an antecedent and moderator (rather than mediator) of the work stress process. Around half the studies were longitudinal, and all were published in either Australia or Malaysia. The review provides a better understanding of PSC research and shows that the climate for psychosocial safety is crucial for improving health and work quality. Given its important implications for working conditions, health, and engagement, we encourage further research on PSC. We provide insights into future research requirements to advance the field of PSC research such as the simultaneous use of multiple climates, multilevel modeling, research time lags, advanced research designs, and data analysis tools.