Unlocking Job Involvement: Helping New Employees Navigate using Uncertainty Reduction Theory with Psychological Safety as a Mediator

Abstract

Organizational socialization (OS) is a critical process that all employees go through. In addition to the job characteristics, the efficiency and effectiveness of the OS process impact the individual's ability to adjust and be involved in the job. This study proposes and tests a new model in which psychological safety mediated the effects of OS and job characteristics on the job involvement of 313 newly recruited health-care professionals’ working in 10 private hospitals in South India. Researchers used Uncertainty Reduction Theory to explain the relationship between the variables under study. The results indicate that newcomers’ job involvement is predicted positively by OS and job characteristics, and that psychological safety mediates these relationships. These findings as well as their implications in the health-care professional arena are discussed within the Eastern cultural contexts of organizational behavior research.