Power, Harmony, and Silence: An Organizational Behavior Perspective on Teachers’ Collegial Relationships
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46328/ijres.5895Keywords:
Teacher relationships, Organizational silence, Emotional satisfaction, Collectivism, Cultural adaptation, Quality of education, Gender equality, Reduced inequalityAbstract
In the context of China’s collectivist culture and hierarchical organizational structures, teachers often navigate a delicate balance between voicing opinions and maintaining silence in their professional interactions. While open communication is widely recognized as essential to school development and organizational learning, Chinese teachers may choose silence as a culturally appropriate strategy to preserve interpersonal harmony and avoid conflict, especially within rigid hierarchies. This phenomenon organizational silence is not merely the absence of speech, but a complex, context-dependent behavior influenced by relational risk, power distance, and social norms. Despite growing interest in silence within organizational research, existing studies have largely overlooked how cultural values shape silence behaviors in non-Western settings. By examining the relationship between collegial interactions and organizational silence among Chinese teachers, this study aims to provide culturally grounded insights into how silence functions as a form of adaptive behavior, and to contribute to the development of more inclusive and context-sensitive theories of organizational communication.
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