Core characteristics of psychological safety
If you’ve found yourself here reading my work, chances are you’ve already come across the term psychological safety. It’s been quite the buzzword lately and for good reasons! Over the past few years, conversation about psychological safety has gained serious traction in workplaces everywhere. Employers and leaders are acknowledging that to truly sustain performance, engagement, learning, and wellbeing, we can’t ignore psychological safety, especially in the world of knowledge work.
At its core, psychological safety is the belief that it is safe to take interpersonal risks without negative consequences. Edmondson (1999) described it as a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. In simpler terms, it’s that sense of “I can speak up, ask questions, or admit mistakes without fear of being judged, punished, or excluded.”
You’ll also hear it described on an individual level as the feeling that you can be yourself and express your thoughts without worrying about negative interpersonal repercussions. These definitions are great (and necessary), but can also be confusing. So, to make things a little easier (and friendlier), I’ve put together a quick and simple breakdown of what psychological safety really is. After reading numerous research papers conceptualizing psychological safety, I have created a list of five core characteristics of psychological safety as pictured in the diagram below.
Now, let’s unpack these core characteristics.
Psychological safety is interpersonal.
Psychological safety is an interpersonal phenomenon or in other words, it only exists in the space between people. Wherever there are two or more humans interacting, some level of psychological safety (low to high) is present. And it’s not limited to the workplace! Psychological safety shows up in all kinds of relationships such as relationships between partners, parents and children, doctors and patients, teachers and students, and friends. In every one of these dynamics, there is a sense of safety that determines whether people feel able to speak up, share ideas, ask for help, or simply be themselves without fear of judgment or rejection.
Psychological safety is socially constructed.
Psychological safety is shaped by social cues and is highly context-sensitive. It’s influenced by the environment we’re in and often long before we officially start a role. Think about your recruitment experience: was it respectful, transparent, and inclusive? That interaction alone can shape your sense of psychological safety when you step into an organization, even if you never cross paths with the recruiter again. Once you’re in the role, your manager becomes one of the biggest influences on your psychological safety. As humans, we’re constantly scanning our surroundings for social and contextual signals. It’s completely natural. Our brains are wired to pick up on subtle cues (e.g., tone, body language, reactions) and those cues directly impact how safe we feel to speak up, contribute, and be ourselves.
Psychological safety is a perception.
Psychological safety shapes the lens through which we look at our interpersonal environments and (consciously and subconsciously) process its cues as to whether it is safe to take risks. I like to call this process ‘thinky-feely’. Perceptions are essentially (among other things) a product of how we feel about a situation + what we think about it. And our perception about something is a combination of the context, the people in it, the subtle cues, and of course our internalized, personal, individual factors (i.e., personality, cultural contexts). For example, you may go through a very rapid ‘thinky-feely’ like this: “hey, Bob responded to me in a warm and welcoming manner”, and/or “I noticed Bob responding to another person in a warm and welcoming manner”… “and that makes me feel and think that it is safe to speak up in front of Bob”. (Well done, Bob!)
Psychological safety is enabling or functional.
Psychological safety is not merely the absence of fear, but a condition that facilitates positive outcomes by acting as a protective factor. It serves a purpose whether it is enabling learning, collaboration, voice, inclusion, and innovation. This is also why we need to focus on building psychological safety in the context of mitigating psychosocial risks. When employees experience a high level of psychological safety, they are more likely to (1) report psychosocial hazards like bullying, unfair treatment, stress, lack of role clarity, or not having opportunities to share feedback, (2) seek support when struggling, before harm escalates, and (3) participate in consultation and risk management processes.
Psychological safety is temporal.
Psychological safety is not a static condition. It can increase and decrease over time based on leadership, organisational interventions, relationship quality, and many other factors. And the fact that psychological safety is temporal is also great news! This means that we can create and foster conditions to increase psychological safety.
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