Fear, Intervention, and Psychological Safety: Toward a Theory of Regulated Courage
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33423/612jve09Keywords:
leadership, accountability, ethics, fear, intervention, psychological safety, regulated courage, responsible leadershipAbstract
Psychological safety research has largely focused on employee voice and leader behaviors that create safe team climates. Less attention has been paid to why leaders sometimes fail to intervene when psychological safety is threatened. This conceptual paper argues that fear is a central but underexplored trigger of leadership behavior. Drawing on responsible leadership, emotion regulation, psychological contract, and avoidant leadership theories, it introduces regulated courage as the capacity to experience fear while remaining behaviorally present, accountable, and intervention-oriented. The proposed framework explains how fear can lead to intervention avoidance, defensive silence, and declining team safety, while regulated courage disrupts this process.
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