Effect of Psychological Ownership on Employee Silence and Task Performance: A Study on Academicians

Abstract

This study examines the effect of psychological ownership on employee silence and task performance. It aims to probe the relationship between psychological ownership (a relatively new concept in the literature) and employee silence and the effect of psychological ownership on task performance. Research data is collected from 502 academicians employed by state universities in Turkey. Exploratory factor analyses, correlation and regression analyses are performed to test a number of hypotheses. Data analyses revealed that, there is a negative relationship between psychological ownership and both acquiescent silence and defensive silence, while there is a positive relationship between psychological ownership and pro-social silence. Further, it is found that acquiescent silence and defensive silence have significantly negative effects on task performance, while pro-social silence exerts a statistically significant positive effect on task performance. Finally, psychological ownership is found to exert a statistically significant positive effect on task performance. Research and managerial implications of these findings are discussed in detail.