Leveraging psychosocial safety climate to prevent ill-being: The mediating role of psychological need thwarting

This study aimed to identify a new lever to prevent workers' burnout, work-family conflict, and turnover intentions by investigating psychosocial safety climate's relation to these undesirable outcomes. More specifically, drawing on self-determination theory, we explored the mediating role of psychological need thwarting in these relationships. Study 1 used a cross-sectional design to demonstrate that psychosocial safety climate was negatively related to employees' work-family conflict and turnover intentions, through the mediation of psychological need thwarting. Study 2 built upon these results by using a cross-lagged design to show that psychosocial safety climate, through its relation with psychological need thwarting, related to a decrease in burnout three months later. Burnout itself explained an increase in work-family conflict and turnover intentions. Altogether, this paper contributes to self-determination theory in organizations and sheds light on the longitudinal beneficial effect of psychosocial safety climate to prevent undesirable consequences for employees and organizations both. Theoretical contributions and perspectives, as well as implications for practice are discussed. •Psychosocial safety climate is identified as a determinant of turnover intentions.•Psychosocial safety climate is negatively linked to work-family conflict.•These effects of psychosocial safety climate are observed over time.•Psychological need thwarting and burnout explain these longitudinal relationships.