This paper seeks to revisit the concept of team psychological safety. Drawing on symbolic interactionism, the paper critiques the assumption that psychological safety is a shared belief within teams. Instead, it argues that psychological safety is a subjective and socially constructed concept, shaped by individual interpretations of social interactions. The paper highlights how the reliance on aggregated team-level measures overshadows individual differences. The analysis further explores how symbolic interactionism, through concepts like Cooley’s ‘looking-glass self’, provides a lens for understanding the subjective and evolving nature of psychological safety. This perspective emphasises that individuals’ perceptions of safety are influenced by their interpretations of others’ reactions, leading to varied experiences even within the same team context. The paper calls for a shift away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to psychological safety. By rethinking psychological safety as an ongoing process of subjective meaning-making, this paper contributes to advancing both theoretical and practical understanding of this conceptualisation.
