What is psychological safety?
Psychological safety is a shared belief among team members that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, so that asking questions, admitting mistakes or raising concerns will not lead to embarrassment or punishment. Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson established it as a team-level construct in her 1999 study.
- Meaning
- A team’s shared belief that interpersonal risk-taking is safe
- Established by
- Edmondson (1999)
- Field
- Organizational behavior, I-O psychology
- Key outcomes
- Team learning behavior and performance
Edmondson’s study
Edmondson studied 51 work teams in a manufacturing company, using surveys, interviews and observation. The model looked like this:
| Step | Content |
|---|---|
| Psychological safety | The belief that "it’s okay to take risks on this team" |
| Learning behavior | Seeking feedback, sharing information, asking for help, discussing errors, experimenting |
| Team performance | Performance improves through learning behavior |
Why does psychological safety lead to better performance? In Edmondson’s (1999) study, psychological safety was associated with team learning behavior, and learning behavior helped connect psychological safety with team performance. When members feel safe, they ask questions, surface problems and try new approaches, so the team learns more and performs better.
Common misconceptions
- "It just means being nice": psychological safety is not about pleasant talk. It is about being able to say uncomfortable things.
- "It means lowering standards": high standards and psychological safety can coexist. High standards with low safety tend to make people hide mistakes.
- "It’s a personality trait": unlike individual confidence, it is a climate shared by the team.
Link with groupthink
When psychological safety is low, people hold back dissent, making groupthink and conformity more likely. Teams where anyone can raise a problem can correct bad decisions early.
How to build it
- Frame work as a learning problem: say clearly that the task is uncertain and everyone’s input is needed.
- Leaders acknowledge their own fallibility: asking "What might I be missing?" makes it easier for others to speak.
- Respond appreciatively: thank people who bring bad news instead of blaming them.
- Distinguish errors from violations: treat honest mistakes as learning opportunities while holding deliberate violations accountable. See also leadership theories.
Frequently asked questions
- What is psychological safety?
- It is a shared belief that team members can ask questions, admit mistakes or disagree without being humiliated or punished.
- Who developed the concept of team psychological safety?
- Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School, through a 1999 study of 51 work teams.
- Does psychological safety mean lower standards?
- No. High standards and psychological safety can go together, and teams learn best when both are high.
References
- Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999