PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY, ORGANIZATIONAL SILENCE, AND BURNOUT AMONG UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES IN PAKISTAN: A CROSS-SECTIONAL MULTILEVEL STUDY

Abstract

This study examined the multilevel relationships among departmental psychological safety, organizational silence, and burnout in Pakistani higher education institutions. Specifically, it tested whether organizational silence mediates the association between psychological safety and employee burnout. A cross-sectional, multilevel survey design was employed. Data were collected from 284 academic and administrative employees across 14 public universities representing all major provinces of Pakistan. Psychological safety was aggregated at the departmental level. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling were conducted to test direct and indirect relationships. Mediation was assessed using bias-corrected bootstrapping (5,000 resamples). Departmental psychological safety negatively predicted organizational silence (β = –0.52, p < 0.001) and burnout (β = –0.39, p < 0.001). Organizational silence positively predicted burnout (β = .47, p < .001). Bootstrapping confirmed a significant indirect effect (β = –.024, p < 0.001), indicating partial mediation. The findings suggest that silence functions as a behavioral mechanism linking unsafe climates to employee burnout. Enhancing psychological safety through inclusive leadership, transparent governance, and protected voice mechanisms may reduce silence and mitigate burnout in hierarchical academic institutions. This study extends psychological safety and silence research to a Global South higher education context and provides multilevel evidence that silence represents a psychologically costly coping strategy.