Abstract:
Being silent in the workplace is detrimental to academic furtherance. However,
keeping quiet may be caused by various factors in organizations. Still, there is a
perplexity of the reasons for employee silence behaviors. No evidence found that
studies have incorporated positive framing into workplace bullying. Therefore,
this study investigated the impact of workplace bullying on employee silence
while considering the mediating role of workplace ostracism. The study also tests
the moderating role of positive framing in these impacts among employees from
higher education institutions by emphasizing social identity theory. The study
collected data through structured questionnaires from conveniently chosen 391
participants from higher education sectors in Sri Lanka. The study adopted a
structured equation modeling technique for data analysis with Smart PLS 4.0.
Results revealed that workplace bullying positively impacts employee silence,
and workplace ostracism mediates the bullying and silence impact. The positive
effect of workplace bullying on employee silence through positive framing is
lessened for employees who remain silent. As a result, developing social ties with
everyone without bullying in institutions is a top strategic goal for workers in the
higher education sector. The results indicated that if bullied employees adopt
silent behavior, ostracism aids them in keeping silent compared to those who
raise their voices. The current study advances research on workplace bullying by
empirically examining the effects of workplace bullying, workplace ostracism,
and employee silence, in addition to expanding the nascent knowledge on these
topics in higher education. Workplace bullying and employee silence are best
understood by employing ostracism as a mediator. Scholars can better
comprehend individual viewpoints on workplace bullying and employee silence
by incorporating positive framing as a moderator. The findings highlight the
importance of positive framing in the workplace in reducing the damaging
outcomes of bullying in organizational settings.
