Great minds think alike: How will witnesses react to the voicer's similar idea?

Although employee voice has been widely confirmed to have multiple impacts on both voicers and managers, we know little about how silent employees (also the witnesses) are affected by voicer's behaviour. Considering a specific voice situation, we investigate how an employee reacts when witnessing a co-worker voicing a similar idea. Based on the similarity-attraction theory, we explored the influence of voice idea similarity on the witness's amplification, which is defined as one's public endorsement and support for the voicer's idea. Through a scenario experiment (Study 1) and an experience-recall experiment (Study 2), we found that voice idea similarity can enhance the witness's perceived social bond and further promote their willingness to amplify the co-worker's voice. Furthermore, team cooperative goals have a positive moderating effect on this process, whereas competitive goals play a negative moderating role (Study 2). Our study contributes to the understanding of the consequences of co-worker voice characteristics and the contextual boundaries of voice amplification.