Abstract

This study explores the relationships between interpersonal trust and members' speech taboo in organizations. The research design chose to examine the possible prohibitions of member's expressing political opinions in military organization. The researchers first went through an in-depth interview of a small sample of 12 informants. Then based on the interview results, they designed a quantitative study. Questionnaires were sent out using a convenient sampling technique. Respondents were voluntary officers from military settings. Altogether, 155 questionnaires were distributed and 114 were effective ones. The overall goodness-of-fit of the final LISREL model was acceptable. Its path coefficients showed that: The respondents feared about possible negative consequences if they violated speech taboo; consequently, their turnover tendency was affected either directly or indirectly. Also, the higher a respondent's trust on supervisor or on political staff officer, the lower his/her fear of violating the taboo, the higher his/her career self-expectations. According to the results of this study, the researchers discuss the positive implications of interpersonal trust in organizations.