The effect of relationship strength on safety voicing

The purpose of the study was to test the association between relationship strength, safety voicing, and hazard neutralising behaviours. Fifty dyads completed a buzz wire game task, where the dyad members were either friends or strangers. The laboratory where these dyads completed the task contained artificial hazards that appeared to be dangerous but posed no actual threat to the participant’s safety. This design was used to allow for an objective measure of safety voicing and hazard neutralising safety behaviours. The study predicted that friend dyads would engage in more safety voicing and more hazard neutralizing behaviours. Results indicated that members of friend dyads demonstrated greater instances of safety voicing to their partner within the dyad, compared to the stranger dyads. Contrastingly, there were no significant differences between friend dyads and stranger dyads in their propensity to report safety concerns to supervision or neutralise hazards. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed