Browsing by Author "Tyrsky, Tutta-Lotta"

The aim of this integrative literature review is to determine what are the elements that psychological safety consists of and how a leader can promote psychological safety within a team. This study is based on Amy Edmondson’s theory and definition of psychological safety. By this definition, psychological safety means a shared belief of the consequences of risk-taking in a social context, like in a work team. The risks can be i.e. asking for help or speaking up one’s own idea, and the consequences can be to get ridiculed by others or feeling of shame. The subject has been studied on the field of organization psychology, but I am interested in transferring the theory into school context in my next study. Therefore, another goal for this study is to collect information about psychological safety. To determine what are the basic elements of psychological safety, the meter Amy Edmondson has developed for measuring psychological safety on 1999, was analyzed. Based on Edmondson’s meter, three main elements were determined: 1. Relating on mistakes, 2. Safety of risk-taking and 3. Relating on other people. For finding out how a leader can promote psychological safety within a team, data was collected from previous studies concerning psychological safety. It was discovered that both personal qualities and the actions and behavior of a leader has an impact on developing a team which is psychologically safe. A humble, open and ethically behaving leader who listens to and shows respect for his/her team members is more likely to have a psychologically safe work team. The leader can consciously strive to strengthen the psychological safety of the team for example by showing that mistakes are allowed and necessary in the learning process, and by treating his/her subordinates with appreciation.