Educational Leadership Research

Abstract Organizational silence is a critical issue in educational environments, as it can hinder effective communication and impede institutional development. This study aimed to examine the impact of organizational cynicism on teachers’ organizational silence, with the mediating role of job plateauing. The research followed a descriptive-correlational design using structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical population consisted of all middle and high school teachers in Salas Babajani County. Based on Krejcie and Morgan’s table, a sample of 200 teachers was selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using the Job Plateauing Questionnaire by Allen et al. (2004), the Organizational Cynicism Scale by Dean et al. (1998), and the Organizational Silence Questionnaire by Dyne et al. (2003). The content and face validity of the instruments were confirmed by experts, and their reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. The results showed that organizational cynicism has a direct effect on organizational silence. Additionally, job plateauing significantly affects both organizational silence and organizational cynicism. Moreover, organizational cynicism indirectly influences organizational silence through job plateauing. These findings suggest that teachers' organizational cynicism not only directly contributes to organizational silence but also intensifies it through the experience of job plateauing. In light of these results, it is recommended that educational administrators work to mitigate factors contributing to organizational cynicism and job plateauing in order to reduce organizational silence among teachers.