Introduction: Despite the wide range of individual, personality, and cultural differences among employees, organizations can proactively prevent behaviors that lead to decreased productivity and efficiency by focusing on strengthening organizational culture and gaining a deep, realistic understanding of human behavior. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effect of organizational virtue on organizational silence, with the mediating role of social undermining in the Departments of Sports and Youth in Khuzestan Province.
Method: Given the nature of the topic, this research was conducted within the framework of descriptive-correlational studies using structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all managers and employees of the Departments of Sports and Youth in Khuzestan Province, totaling 330 individuals. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan table, a sample of 180 participants was selected through random sampling. Data were collected using three standardized questionnaires: Organizational Virtue (Cameron et al., 2004), Organizational Silence (Morrison and Milliken, 2000), and Social Undermining (Duffy et al., 2012). To test the hypotheses, structural equation modeling was applied, specifically using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach.
Results: The findings revealed a significant indirect relationship between organizational virtue and both organizational silence and social undermining. Additionally, there was a direct and significant relationship between social undermining and organizational silence. However, the mediating effect of social undermining in the relationship between organizational virtue and organizational silence was found to be statistically insignificant.
Conclusion: Based on these findings, it is recommended that managers in sports organizations pay special attention to the spiritual, psychological, and social needs of employees while striving to create a dynamic, motivational, and interaction-rich work environment. Such an approach can enhance job satisfaction, boost productivity, improve interpersonal relations, and strengthen team morale, thereby fostering more enthusiastic and responsible task performance. Moreover, under such conditions, positive organizational citizenship behaviors are likely to increase, while negative behaviors such as organizational silence, social undermining, and indifference are expected to decrease.