Investigation of the impact mechanism of humble leadership on employee silence

BACKGROUND: “Silence” is a common phenomenon in the operation of enterprises, where some instances of silence can uphold organizational harmony, while other forms can exacerbate organizational issues, hindering intra-organizational information transfer and decision-making and affecting organizational innovation. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the relationship between humble leadership style and employee silent behavior, verifying the mediating role of psychological contracts in this relationship. METHODS: Based on the social exchange theory, hypotheses are validated using descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis and the SEM structural equation modeling testing. RESULTS: The findings indicate a significant negative correlation between humble leadership and employee silence. Humble leadership significantly inversely predicts permissive and defensive dimensions of employee silence, while the correlation with the prosocial dimension is insignificant. Moreover, psychological contracts partially mediate the impact of humble leadership on permissive silence and defensive silence among employees. CONCLUSION: The study helps managers comprehend how humble leadership, characterized by the traditional Chinese “humility” culture, affects employee silence. Especially within Chinese enterprises, where employees are influenced by traditional Chinese thought and exhibit historical dependency on silent behavior, probing whether the humble leadership style can effectively encourage employees to provide constructive suggestions for organizational development is particularly meaningful.