Linking organizational trust to voice behaviors in healthcare workers: the mediating role of organizational identification
- 9 November 2026
- journal article
- Published by Emerald Publishing in Journal of Health Organization and Management
- p. 1-18
Abstract
Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between organizational trust and employee voice behavior among healthcare workers and to determine the mediating role of organizational identification in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: Using a quantitative, cross-sectional design, the study was conducted with 291 healthcare employees working in a private hospital in Samsun, Türkiye. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of the Organizational Trust Scale, Employee Voice Behavior Scale and Organizational Identification Scale, along with a sociodemographic information form. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation analysis and mediation analysis were performed using IBM SPSS 26 and PROCESS Macro. Findings: The findings revealed that organizational trust was positively and significantly associated with employee voice behavior and organizational identification. Moreover, organizational identification was positively associated with employee voice behavior. Mediation analysis indicated that organizational identification partially mediated the relationship between organizational trust and employee voice behavior. These results suggest that higher levels of perceived organizational trust are associated with stronger organizational identification, which, in turn, is associated with a greater willingness to express constructive ideas, concerns and suggestions. Originality/value: This study contributes to the organizational behavior literature by examining organizational identification as a psychological mechanism linking organizational trust to employee voice behavior among healthcare workers. In addition, this study provides a healthcare-specific perspective on how trust and identification may foster employees’ willingness to express ideas, concerns and suggestions for organizational improvement.Keywords
This publication has 74 references indexed in Scilit:
- Can employees’ trust their supervisor? The role of high-performance work systems and stewardship climate on employee voiceHeliyon, 2024
- Organisational identification and workers' well‐being: The mediating role of trust, meaning of work and self‐objectificationJournal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 2024
- Dataset on the impact of implementing a shared governance model on the level of professional governance among nurses in Saudi Arabia: Insights from experimental dataData in Brief, 2024
- Voice, silence, perceived impact, psychological safety, and burnout among nurses: A structural equation modeling analysisInternational Journal of Nursing Studies, 2023
- Professional identity research in the health professions—a scoping reviewAdvances in Health Sciences Education, 2022
- The moderating effects of trustor characteristics and the cost of being trusted on the relationship between felt trust and OCB intentionReview of Managerial Science, 2022
- Organizational trust and safety operation behavior in airline pilots: The mediating effects of organizational identification and organizational commitmentJournal of Air Transport Management, 2021
- An examination of the correlation between nurses' organizational trust and burnout levelsApplied Nursing Research, 2018
- Trust as a mediator of the relationship between organizational justice and work outcomes: test of a social exchange modelJournal of Organizational Behavior, 2002
- Alumni and their alma mater: A partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identificationJournal of Organizational Behavior, 1992