Many organizations today are striving to create a culture of psychological safety, whereby employees are empowered to speak up if they see something wrong. Research from Carnegie Mellon highlights how our group affiliations at work play a big role in whether we’re willing to speak up or not.

The study found that the more cohesive a group was, the less likely they were to whistleblow, at least on other members of their group. They became more likely to whistleblow on members outside of their own group, however.

“Understanding the effects of group dynamics on whistleblowing can inform organizational interventions to detect and prevent wrongdoing,” the researchers explain. “By understanding how individuals identify and associate with each other, we can determine the impact of social structure on responses to wrongdoing.”

Social groups

It’s tempting to think that all employees feel part of the wider organization, but the reality is that they are also likely to have formed various internal social groups according to rank, demographics, geography, hobbies, and so on. These groups have a significant impact on one’s decision-making.

The researchers gathered data from the 2010 Merit Principles Survey, which asked employees from a few dozen federal departments and agencies about wrongdoing in their agencies.

The analysis revealed that when a wrongdoer was in the same group as potential whistleblowers, the cohesion of the group decreased the chances of anyone blowing the whistle on that individual because of the heightened loyalty towards that group and its reputation.

The opposite was the case when the wrongdoer was not in the same group as the whistleblower, as there was a sense that blowing the whistle would help to protect their fellow group members, while also making the whistleblower confident that they would have support.

What is less clear is quite why this might be so. For instance, do members view unethical behaviors differently depending on the group membership of the perpetrator? What happens if people are members of multiple groups or if the group membership is mandatory versus voluntary? The researchers also didn’t assess whether the harm caused was to an individual or to the organization.

The researchers believe, however, that their findings highlight the role group dynamics are likely to play in whether people speak up against wrongdoing or not, and that strong group dynamics can actually shield wrongdoers within those groups.