Latent Dissent Research Articles

Examining the association of job tenure, employment history, and organizational status with employee dissent

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between temporal and structural components of organizational life (i.e., job tenure, employment history, and organizational history) and employee dissent. This was accomplished by comparing respondents’ reports about their tendencies to use varying strategies for dissent to their reports about present job tenure, number of full‐time employers, total years work experience, and organizational status. Structural equation models were used to examine the association between temporal measures (job tenure, number of full‐time employers, total years work experience), structural measures (organizational status) and dissent constructs. Findings indicated that articulated dissent use was associated with management status, whereas latent dissent use was associated with nonmanagement status, increases in present job tenure and decreases in number of full‐time employers and total years work experience.

Dissension in the organization as it relates to control expectancies

The purpose of this study was to examine how employees’ strategies for expressing dissent relate to work locus of control expectancies. Employees (N = 280) completed measures of organizational dissent and work specific locus of control. Results indicated that employees reporting an internal control orientation used significantly more articulated dissent than either moderate or external control oriented employees. Additionally, findings indicated that external oriented employees used significantly more latent dissent than employees reporting either moderate or external control orientations did.

From the Looks of Things

The purpose of this study was to examine how people perceive employee dissenters. Respondents, who were full-time working adults from various organizations, received questionnaires that contained a scenario depicting a fictitious organizational character engaging in either articulated or latent dissent. Participants then provided their perceptions of the dissenter depicted in the scenario via a set of other-report indexes. Results indicated that respondents perceived articulated and latent dissenters differently. Respondents perceived articulated dissenters to be less verbally aggressive and less argumentative, more identified with their organizations, and more satisfied employees than latent dissenters. In addition, articulated dissenters, compared with latent dissenters, were seen as employees who have better relationships with their supervisors, as employees who see management as more open to employee input, and as employees who exercise more influence in their organizations.

Exploring the relationship between workplace freedom of speech, organizational identification, and employee dissent

The purpose of this study was to examine how subordinates' perceptions of workplace freedom of speech related to their levels of organizational identification and their strategies for expressing dissent. Full‐time working adults from various organizations in the Southwest completed self‐report survey instruments. Results indicated that organizational identification as well as the expression of articulated dissent and latent dissent varied as a function of workplace freedom of speech.

Investigating the relationship between superior‐subordinate relationship quality and employee dissent

The purpose of this study was to examine how subordinates’ perceptions of superior‐subordinate relationship quality (LMX) related to their strategies for expressing dissent. Employees from various organizations completed self‐report survey instruments. Results indicated that subordinates who perceived having high‐quality relationships with their supervisors reported using significantly more articulated dissent than subordinates who perceived having low‐quality relationships with their supervisors. Conversely, subordinates who perceived having low‐quality relationships with their supervisors reported using significantly more latent dissent than subordinates who perceived having high‐quality relationships with their supervisors.

Examining the Relationship between Organizational Dissent and Aggressive Communication

The purpose of this study was to explore the degree to which individual differences, in general, and aggressive communication traits, in particular, influenced employees’dissent strategy selections. Employees completed self-report instruments describing their levels of verbal aggressiveness, argumentativeness, and how they chose to express dissent concerning organizational practices and policies. Results indicated that argumentativeness, verbal aggressiveness, and organizational position predicted articulated and latent dissent use. Results also indicated that individual differences did not predict the use of displaced dissent.