The Field Guide › Trails › A History of Psychological Safety
The scholarly lineage of the construct: how psychological safety emerged, was operationalised, distinguished from trust, and matured into a measured, meta-analysed field.
The paper that coined the term 'psychological safety'.
The foundational text on sensitivity training, T-groups, and laboratory education as a means of personal and organisational change.
Kahn's paper is the one the field treats as the origin of psychological safety as a workplace construct, though it is more accurately the first sustained articulation of the idea in organisational be…
The landmark paper that operationalised psychological safety at team level.
Edmondson's group-level conceptual chapter is the standard reference for distinguishing psychological safety from interpersonal trust, and it is the piece that keeps the two constructs from collapsin…
Examined how leader inclusiveness moderates the relationship between hierarchical status and psychological safety in neonatal intensive care units.
The Annual Review piece covering the PS literature from the 1990s to 2012 — the predecessor to the 2023 'Comes of Age' review.
The definitive meta-analysis of the PS literature, synthesising 136 samples.
A comprehensive review of the psychological safety literature identifying four dominant themes: getting things done, learning behaviours, improving the work experience, and leadership.