Abstract
Psychological safety is an individually held belief that a group is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. Scholars have studied the concept primarily as a team-level construct. However, recent studies suggest that climates of psychological safety exist at the organizational level. An examination of the dynamism of the construct at the organizational level is needed: how it grows, changes, and declines. Startups, which grow and change quickly, are an excellent context to study organizational psychological safety. Through interviews, this study explored psychological safety as an organizational-level construct in startup organizations. Specifically, it examined potential commonalities between high and low psychological safety as reported from participant experience working at startups and identified five dimensions that impact perceptions of psychological safety: Top Executive, Employee Characteristics, Senior Leadership, Business Performance, and Growth. These findings contribute to the nascent area of scholarship on organizational psychological safety and provide practical knowledge to the management of psychological safety.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Organizational behavior; Psychology, Industrial--New business enterprises; Industrial safety--Psychological aspects
Date of Award
2023
School Affiliation
Graziadio Business School
Department/Program
Business
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Masters
Faculty Advisor
Darren Good
Recommended Citation
Barhydt, Jessica, "Psychological Safety in Startup Organizations" (2023). Theses and Dissertations. 1300.
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/1300
Included in
Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons