知而不言？華人員工沉默原因：概念建構與量表發展

員工沉默普遍存在於組織之中，會對組織效益或員工福祉帶來負面影響。相較於西方，華人情境下員工沉默的現象特別顯著，其可能為受華人本土文化特性所致，華人員工對於意見表達的看法與西方不同。因此，從華人本土的角度了解華人員工保持沉默的原因為重要的議題。本研究將進行四系列的研究，以建構華人員工沉默原因並發展測量工具。研究一（N = 94）採取歸納研究取徑，透過關鍵事例法釐清華人員工沉默原因內涵，並發展量表；研究二（N = 285）針對研究一所發展之量表，以半驗證性因素分析進行量表結構驗證與探索；研究三（N = 189）在事件層次上，探討華人員工在面對不同沉默對象關係介面與訊息內容時所持有的沉默原因；研究四（N = 179）在個人層次上，探討不同個人價值觀與思維特性與華人沉默原因的關聯性。綜合四個研究結果發現，華人員工沉默原因可分為12個子向度，展現保留資源、避免風險、以靜制動、考慮他人、遵循規範、維持和諧六項特性。同時，華人員工會隨著沉默對象、訊息內容、或是個人價值觀與思維特性的不同而有不同的沉默原因。綜上所述，本研究釐清了華人員工沉默原因與其內涵，並發展出適合之測量工具，有助於未來研究者進一步探索華人文化中員工產生沉默之心理歷程與理論建構。

關鍵字

華人文化；員工沉默原因

並列摘要

Employees that remain silent about work-related matters has been frequently observed and is detrimental to organizational performance and employees’ well-being. This phenomenon is more salient in the Chinese context than in Western due to the nature of Chinese culture. In four consecutive studies, I delved into the Chinese culture to examine the motives for the silence observed from Chinese employees. In Study 1, I used an inductive approach (N = 94) to explore the nature and scope of Chinese silence motives and develop measures of these motives. In Study 2, I conducted semi-confirmatory factor analysis (N = 285) to examine and explore the factor structure. In Study 3 (N = 189), I examined the event-level relationships between the Chinese silence motives and related factors (i.e., target relationship interfaces and message content). In Study 4 (N = 179), I investigated the individual-level relationships between the Chinese silence motives and related factors (i.e., personal values and thinking styles). Results identified 12 dimensions of Chinese silence motives, displaying six properties (reserving resources, avoiding risks, bracing for dynamics with calmness, considering others, following norms, and maintaining harmony). Results also revealed that Chinese employees’ motives to remain silent may change with different target relationship interfaces, message content, personal values and thinking styles. In sum, this study clarified the contents of Chinese employee silence motives, developed a new scale of these motives, and explored its psychometric properties in four studies. This scale contributes to silence literature by facilitating researchers to construct theories of Chinese psychological mechanism in employee silence at work.

並列關鍵字

Chinese culture ； employee silence motives

參考文獻

Hinkin, T. R. (1998). A brief tutorial on the development of measures for use in survey questionnaires. Organizational Research Methods, 1(1), 104-121. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442819800100106

Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692-724. https://doi.org/10.5465/256287

朱瑞玲（1991）：〈「面子」壓力與其因應行為〉。見楊國樞與黃光國（主編），《中國人的心理與行為》。頁117-212。桂冠圖書公司。