Relationship between Trust and Silent in Improving the Workplace Ethical Space: the Mediating Role of Organizational Support

Background: In recent years, researchers have investigated the relationship between employees work orientations and organizational silent; however, what has not been analyzed so far has been the mediating role of organizational support in the relationship between trust and silence in universities in order to improve the workplace ethical space. Accordingly, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the mediating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between trust and silent in Islamic Azad university branches of Mazandaran province. Method: The present research is applied in terms of aim and is a descriptive-correlative type. The statistical population includes all staff of Islamic Azad University of Mazandaran province in 2015 with 1765 subjects. The sample size was calculated 231 people using the Cochran formula. Sampling method is a stratified random with appropriate allocation for university branches. Data were collected through three questionnaires of organizational silent, organizational trust and perceived organizational support. One-sample t-test, path analysis and structural equations were used for data analysis. Results: Findings showed that perceived organizational support has a direct and negative effect on organizational silent with a standardized path coefficient (β = -0.89). Also, by confirming the mediating role of perceived organizational support, organizational trust with standardized path coefficient (β = -0.56) has an indirect and negative effect on the organizational silent variable in universities. Conclusion: The existence of a climate of trust in universities and educational centers and its accompaniment with organizational support among knowledge workers will cause silence break, thereby improving the ethical environment in universities.