Positive Psychological Communication at Work: Development and Pilot Testing of a Framework Linking Voice, Trust, Engagement, and Organizational Flourishing
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Workplace communication is commonly evaluated through information quality, channel effectiveness, and employee alignment, while its psychological and relational consequences receive less integrated attention. This study develops and pilot-tests the Positive Psychological Communication Framework (PPCF), which conceptualizes credible, respectful, strengths-aware, meaning-centered, participative, and behaviorally consistent communication as an organizational resource associated with employee voice, trust, engagement, and flourishing-related outcomes. The full theoretical PPCF integrates positive psychology, psychological safety, organizational trust, employee engagement, and strategic communication. The pilot study, however, tests a deliberately reduced empirical model: Inclusiveness and Voice represents only the voice-related aspect of relational safety, and Organizational Success serves only as a flourishing-related outcome rather than a complete measure of collective flourishing. A quantitative cross-sectional pilot study was conducted using 83 usable responses to a 27-item questionnaire comprising nine three-item dimensions. The data demonstrated good factorability (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = .885; Bartlett's chi-square = 1,649.49, p < .001). Internal consistency was acceptable to excellent for eight constructs, while Strength-Based Communication returned alpha = .643. A nine-factor confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable but marginal fit, chi-square(288) = 437.34, CFI = .903, TLI = .882, and RMSEA = .080. In the reduced structural model, all four proposed paths were positive and statistically significant. The sequential indirect association from strategic communication to organizational success through inclusiveness and voice, trust, and engagement was .155, with a 95% bootstrap confidence interval [.026, .371]. The findings provide preliminary support for the reduced empirical pathway but do not validate the full PPCF, establish causality, or directly validate psychological safety and collective flourishing. The study contributes a theoretically integrated framework, an initial instrument architecture, and a staged agenda for larger independent validation.
Author: Trinanjan Gupta
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7222878710
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