Confidence is the plant of slow growth: a moderated mediation model for predicting voice behavior among power distance orientation and team-based self-esteem in Taiwanese nurses

BACKGROUND: According to the social identity theory and Chinese cultural influences, power distance orientation may play an important role in this relationship, and thus the examined model investigates the mediating role of team-based self-esteem relations between voice behavior and team trust. PURPOSE: This study explores how voice behavior in the nursing workplace correlates to changes in team-based self-esteem and trust. We also examine the power distance orientation level in this process to test for any moderated mediation in these linkages. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Employing convenient sampling of 247 registered nurses from a medical center in northern Taiwan. Nurses received envelopes including self-report questionnaires from the researchers, which were immediately sealed after interviews. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling indicates all model fits are acceptable, suggesting that team-based self-esteem has partial mediation between team trust and voice behavior. Power distance orientation also moderates the indirect effect of team trust upon self-esteem, such that the relationship is stronger among those who have a high power distance orientation. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the usefulness of continued research into how nurses display promoting behavior through team-based self-esteem with a distinct level of power distance orientation under differing sources of team trust from peers, managers, and organizations, as well as how nurses, especially fresh graduates and those who underwent a job transfer, shape their social identity through psychological factors in the sense-making process.