Cultivating Psychological Safety: A Foundation for Thriving Environments

Research reviewed: Psychological Safety: The History, Renaissance, and Future of an Interpersonal Construct

What is psychological safety?

Psychological safety is the absence of interpersonal fear. Feeling psychologically safe allows people to perform their best at home, school, and work.

Psychological safety is such an imperative aspect of every service provider’s culture. Whether you’re an educator in a school or university, a helping professional within service providers, a parent engaged with the professionals, and child or youth being served, the culture and climate of the school / service provider / agency is so important for humanizing our spaces together.

Personally and professionally, as I reflect on my life and work over the years, there have absolutely been times I did not feel psychologically safe, and definitely times that I have. There is such a distinct difference. It’s interesting that MIT professors, in 1965, were some of the initial scholars that led research on psychological safety. Now, nearly six decades later, the research is taking deep roots on transformational and sustainable change.

In 1965, MIT professors Edgar Schein and Warren Bennis argued that psychological safety was essential for making people feel secure and capable of changing their behavior in response to shifting organizational challenges. Schein (1993) later argued that psychological safety helps people overcome the defensiveness, or learning anxiety, that occurs when they are presented with data that contradict their expectations or hopes.

A McKinsey & Company article reflected, “Psychological safety means feeling safe to take interpersonal risks, to speak up, to disagree openly, to surface concerns without fear of negative repercussions or pressure to sugarcoat bad news. Psychological safety nurtures an environment where people feel encouraged to share creative ideas without fear of personal judgment or stepping on toes. In this kind of environment, it feels safe to share feedback with others, including negative upward feedback to leaders about where improvements or changes are needed. It’s OK to admit mistakes, to be vulnerable, and to speak truth to power. When psychological safety is present in the workplace or at home, it creates a more innovative, stronger community.”

What did the researchers do?

The researchers reviewed and integrated the literature and suggested directions for future research. They briefly reviewed the early history of psychological safety research and then examined contemporary research at the individual, group, and organizational levels of analysis. They assessed what has been learned and discussed suggestions for future theoretical development and methodological approaches for organizational behavior research on this imperative interpersonal construct.

Their review organized research on psychological safety into three streams, based on level of analysis. First, they began with studies that conceptualize psychological safety as an individual-level phenomenon, with data on experiences and outcomes attributable to individuals. Second, they described research on psychological safety conceptualized as an organizational-level phenomenon and measured as an average of interpersonal-climate experiences within an organization. Third, they reviewed work that conceptualizes and measures psychological safety at the group level of analysis, which is the largest and most active of the three streams.

We know when we can nurture and sustain an equitable, inclusive, and heart-centered climate and culture of our organization, school, agency, etc, we support the co-care with our colleagues and deepen everyone’s psychological safety.

Results

Individual-Level Research reflected how some studies examined employee adherence to expected (or in-role) behaviors, conceptualizing employees as reactive respondents to managerial actions, rewards, or other organizational factors. Others give employees a more active, agentic role, examining relationships between psychological safety and discretionary improvement behaviors including speaking up (e.g., Detert & Burris 2007).

Each of us knows when we feel psychologically safe, or we don’t, at work. Another layer of stress and anxiety permeates our day when we do not as it’s very draining and frustrating. Conversely, when we feel psychologically safe, we are rejuvenated continually and our heart-centered efforts are mission-driven and values-based.

Organizational-Level Research reflected two main outcome  variables in this stream: performance and learning. Organizational performance: Collins & Smith (2006) tested a model predicting that commitment-based HR practices lead to a social climate of trust, which supports knowledge exchange and combination and ultimately, promotes better firm performance. Organizational learning: Other studies examine relationships between psychological safety and outcomes related to organizational learning.

A poignant aspect of a McKinsey & Company article reflected, “situational humility, which teaches leaders how to develop curiosity and a personal-growth mindset” and their findings reflect that employees who report  that their organizations invest substantially in leadership development are 64 percent more likely to rate senior leaders as more inclusive.

Group-Level Research reflected research reviewed at the group level of analysis which includes studies of direct, mediating, and moderating roles for psychological safety in team learning, innovation, and performance.

When we reflect on the intersectionality of our professional environments, being mindfully aware of sustaining a psychologically safe culture, we’re reminded of how many individuals are code-switching to navigate their workplaces. Each of us have an opportunity, and a responsibility, to nurture psychologically safe environments.

Psychological safety is not a given and it is not the norm in most teams. In fact, a McKinsey Global Survey conducted during the pandemic indicated that the behaviors that create a psychologically safe environment are few and far between in leadership teams and organizations more broadly.

What does this mean?

Three key results reflected how numerous studies have investigated the relationship, psychological safety has consistently been shown to play a role in enabling performance.

We know we are harmed in relationships, and we are nurtured on our healing journey through relationships, having safe, trusted relationships in our lives are imperative.

Secondly, the research provides considerable support for the idea that a climate of psychological safety can mitigate the interpersonal risks inherent in learning in hierarchies.

When heart-centered leadership models vulnerability and nurtures an environment of the courage to take risks and expand learning opportunities, peers will feel included, valued, and honored for the unique gifts each of us bring to the collective.

Third, studies show that individuals who experience greater psychological safety are more likely to speak up at work. Upward communication can be a vital force in helping contemporary organizations learn and succeed; by speaking up to those who occupy positions to authorize actions, employees can help challenge the status quo, identify problems or opportunities for improvement, and offer ideas to improve their organizations' well-being.

Supporting the collective impact of everyone’s voice matters and the synergy of solutions-oriented thinkers and doers, nurturing psychological safety for all exemplifies the village supporting every individual’s well-being.

TREC’s Takeaways

TREC cultivates the qualities of self-awareness, models vulnerability, expresses empathy, and compassion accountability which all nurture psychological safety.  

The sense of belonging and inclusion nurtures free expression and supporting people feeling heard with unconditional positive regard, withholding judgment, and welcoming diversity of self-expression.

TREC’s focus on building trusted relationships reflects the self-efficacy and agency of staff’s deep-rooted work within and supports the healing-centered co-care of the organization.

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