Positive Gossip from Leaders Elicits Employee Voice

Gossip is ubiquitous in the workplace, which serves as an important social cue to help employees understand the work environment and eventually to guide their behaviors. However, little is known regarding the effects of gossip across different levels (e.g., gossip between leaders and employees) in organizations, as well as the effects of positive gossip. Drawing on social information process theory, we aim to understand how positive workplace gossip received from the leader, as a social cue, helps employees become aware of their leaders’ performance expectations, which in turn elicit more employee voice. Results from a multi-wave study with 243 full-time employees provided support for our ideas that leader’s performance expectation mediates the positive relationship between positive gossip received from leader and employee voice. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.