Different identifications cause different types of voice: A role identity approach to the relations between organizational socialization and voice

Drawing on role identity theory, this study examines the mediating effects of identifications at two different levels, that is, organizational identification and job involvement (the extent of identification with job) on the relations between the level of organizational socialization and employee voice behavior. To better understand voice behavior, we propose that voice behavior is driven by role identity and categorize employee voice into self-job-concerned voice and self-job-unconcerned voice. A theoretical model is developed and empirically tested using a sample of 231 supervisor–subordinate dyads collected in China. Results show that the level of organizational socialization is positively related to self-job-concerned voice and self-job-unconcerned voice. Organizational identification mediates the relationship between organizational socialization and employee self-job-unconcerned voice. Job involvement mediates the relationship between organizational socialization and self-job-concerned voice. However, we find that the mediating effect of organizational identification between organizational socialization and self-job-concerned voice is not supported. Implication and contributions are discussed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015