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Barriers to PS

Tom Geraghty · Voice & Silence, Power

Reports survey research (with Jade Garratt) on the experiential barriers to speaking up at work, based on 138 responses (62% including free-text commentary). Finds 'I don't think it will make a difference anyway' is the single most common barrier — perceptions of futility are as powerful as fear of punishment — and every one of the twelve barriers offered appeared in someone's top three, showing how individually varied silence actually is. A Jaccard co-occurrence analysis shows fears cluster rather than operating independently: punishment and being seen as a troublemaker co-occur most tightly, with futility linked to both, meaning addressing one fear in isolation typically leaves others intact. Three archetypes emerge from the clustering: Fear-Averse (dominated by punishment, stigma and futility), Competence-Anxious (fear of seeming incompetent, uncertainty about scope), and Cynical-Conformist (driven overwhelmingly by futility and conformity pressure, with comparatively low concern about punishment itself) — the last group a striking real-world instance of 'not scared, just not convinced it matters' silence, distinct from fear-based silence in exactly the way theorised separately in the academic literature (see Sherf, Parke & Isaakyan, 2021, on perceived impact and psychological safety as independent predictors of voice and silence respectively). Maps each archetype to different priority interventions: levelling power gradients and addressing problematic behaviour for the Fear-Averse; clearer scope, facilitation and closing the 'did it matter?' feedback loop for the Competence-Anxious; social proof, visible follow-through and diverse channels for speaking up for the Cynical-Conformist. Qualitative themes reinforce the quantitative clusters: doubts that anonymous channels are truly anonymous, the emotional labour and relationship risk of 'burning bridges,' uncertainty about scope and legitimacy, and workplace cultures where dissent is simply taboo. The central argument is that psychological safety has no single fix: it needs context-sensitive, multi-layered strategies, since what makes one person feel safe to speak up may do nothing for someone driven by a different underlying concern.

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