Supervisor Phubbing and Employee Promotive Voice: The Roles of Supervisor–Employee Rapport and Need for Social Approval

Employee promotive voice is essential for organizational improvement and innovation; however, the impact of supervisor phubbing, a form of inattentive communication, on employees’ willingness to share constructive ideas remains largely understudied. This study addresses this gap by examining whether supervisor phubbing is associated with lower promotive voice through its negative association with supervisor–employee rapport, and whether employees’ need for social approval (NFSA) moderates this indirect association. Quantitative data from a three-wave, time-lagged survey of 307 employees in South Korea showed that supervisor phubbing was negatively related to supervisor–employee rapport, which was positively related to promotive voice, with rapport mediating this relationship. Moreover, NFSA strengthened the negative association between supervisor phubbing and rapport, resulting in a stronger negative indirect association with promotive voice. These findings extend business communication research by identifying supervisor phubbing as an underexplored antecedent of promotive voice and demonstrating supervisor–employee rapport as the relational mechanism underlying this association. Practically, these findings highlight the importance of attentive supervisory communication and clear organizational norms regarding smartphone use during workplace interactions.

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