Testing a workplace experience explanation of displaced dissent

Abstract

When employees express displaced dissent their organizations do not hear and as a result forfeit important critical feedback. The purpose of this study was to assess the conditions in which employees tend to favor expressing displaced dissent. To that end full‐time employees who worked in a variety of organizations completed self‐report survey instruments. Results indicated that age and total years work experience related significantly and negatively to the expression of displaced dissent and that nonmanagement employees expressed significantly more displaced dissent than management employees. Collectively these findings provide support for a workplace experience explanation of displaced dissent.