The importance of team psychological safety climate for enhancing younger team members’ innovation-related behaviors in South Korea

Abstract

Indigenous cultural nuances such as age-related hierarchies in South Korea have the potential to impact workers’ engagement in innovation-related behaviors (IRBs). We use self-categorization theory to examine both the relationship between employee age and IRBs and the cross-level interaction effects of team psychological safety climate. Using a multilevel sample of 282 South Korean employees working in 65 teams across 45 different organizations in various industries, we find that team psychological safety climate moderates the relationship between age and engaging in IRBs. More specifically, we find that when teams have a weaker psychological safety climate, age is positively related to engaging in IRBs. However, when teams have a stronger psychological safety climate, age is not related to engaging in IRBs. We discuss the implications of these findings for innovation and managing work teams in Eastern contexts.