Who Displays Ethical Leadership, and Why Does It Matter? An Examination of Antecedents and Consequences of Ethical Leadership
2012/02/01 by David M. Mayer, Karl Aquino, Rebecca L. Greenbaum +1 · 1,078 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Decision Sciences · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Conflict Management and Negotiation #Construct (python library) #Economic Justice #Ethical leadership #Ethics in Business and Education #Identity (music) #Interpersonal communication #Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior #Law #Leadership studies #Leadership style #Political science #Psychology #Shared leadership #Social group #Social identity theory #Social psychology #Transactional leadership
paper · doi:10.5465/amj.2008.0276
published in Academy of Management Journal 55(1), 151-171 (Academy of Management)
openalex publication_date 2012/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Abstract
Drawing on social learning and moral identity theories, this research examines antecedents and consequences of ethical leadership. Additionally, this research empirically examines the distinctiveness of the ethical leadership construct when compared to related leadership constructs such as idealized influence, interpersonal justice, and informational justice. Consistently with the theoretically derived hypotheses, results from two studies of work units (n's = 115 and 195 units) provide general support for our theoretical model. Study 1 shows positive relationships between ethical leadership and leader “moral identity symbolization” and “moral identity internalization” (approaching significance) and a negative relationship between ethical leadership and unit unethical behavior and relationship conflict. In Study 2, both leader moral identity symbolization and internalization were positively related to ethical leadership and, with idealized influence, interpersonal justice, and informational justice controlled for, ethical leadership was negatively related to unit outcomes. In both studies, ethical leadership partially mediated the effects of leader moral identity.
Citations
Cited by
- Creating an ethical organizational environment: The relationship between ethical leadership, ethical organizational climate, and unethical behavior
- A TRICKLE‐DOWN MODEL OF ABUSIVE SUPERVISION
- Digital transformation and social sustainability: the mediating role of employees’ digital competencies
- Ethical Leadership and Ethical Voice: The Mediating Mechanisms of Value Internalization and Integrity Identity
- An Inconvenient Truth: A Comprehensive Examination of the Added Value (or Lack Thereof) of Leadership Measures
- Improving employee emotional and behavioral investments through the trickle-down effect of organizational inclusiveness and the role of moral supervisors
- The effects of ethical leadership, voice behavior and climates for innovation on creativity: A moderated mediation examination
- Moderating Diversity, Collective Commitment, and Discrimination: The Role of Ethical Leaders in the Public Sector
- Ethical leadership and employee knowledge sharing: Exploring dual-mediation paths
- Ethical leadership and follower organizational deviance: The moderating role of follower moral attentiveness
- A Categorical Framework of Ethical Leadership for Public Organizations: Testing a Multi-Dimensional Model of Local Government Managers
- A Visualized Review of Research on Unethical Behavior in Organizations
- The Effect of Leadership and Teamwork on ISD Project Success
- Neuroticism and ethical risk perception among employees: Neurostructural correlates in the left precuneus
- Can a leader be seen as too ethical? The curvilinear effects of ethical leadership
- Leaders as role models: Effects of leader presenteeism on employee presenteeism and sick leave
- Does Moral Identity Effectively Predict Moral Behavior?: A Meta-Analysis
- The antecedents of moral identity: A meta-analytic review
- A Multidimensional View of Leadership from an Indian Perspective
- Why does counterproductive work behavior lead to pro-social rule breaking? The roles of impression management motives and leader-liking
- Ethical Sensitivity in Nursing Ethical Leadership: A Content Analysis of Iranian Nurses Experiences. [europepmc]
- Ethical Leadership, Leader-Member Exchange and Feedback Seeking: A Double-Moderated Mediation Model of Emotional Intelligence and Work-Unit Structure. [europepmc]
- Three Nightmare Traits in Leaders. [europepmc]
- The Power of Good: A Leader's Personal Power as a Mediator of the Ethical Leadership-Follower Outcomes Link. [europepmc]
- Ethical Leadership and Follower Moral Actions: Investigating an Emotional Linkage. [europepmc]
- Ethical Leadership as Antecedent of Job Satisfaction, Affective Organizational Commitment and Intention to Stay Among Volunteers of Non-profit Organizations. [europepmc]
- On Ethically Solvent Leaders: The Roles of Pride and Moral Identity in Predicting Leader Ethical Behavior. [europepmc]
- What Drives the Trickle-Down Effect of Calling Orientation From Supervisors to Subordinates? The Perspective of Social Learning Theory. [europepmc]
- What Makes Employees' Work So Stressful? Effects of Vertical Leadership and Horizontal Management on Employees' Stress. [europepmc]
- Do Work Engagement and Transformational Leadership Facilitate Knowledge Sharing? A Perspective of Conservation of Resources Theory. [europepmc]
- Inculcation of Green Behavior in Employees: A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Approach. [europepmc]
- Ethical Leadership and Followers' Emotional Exhaustion: Exploring the Roles of Three Types of Emotional Labor toward Leaders in South Korea. [europepmc]
- How Ethical Leadership Promotes Knowledge Sharing: A Social Identity Approach. [europepmc]
- Employee Voice: A Mechanism to Harness Employees' Potential for Sustainable Success. [europepmc]
- Does Self-Care Make You a Better Leader? A Multisource Study Linking Leader Self-Care to Health-Oriented Leadership, Employee Self-Care, and Health. [europepmc]
- Linking perceived ethical leadership to workplace cheating behavior: A moderated mediation model of moral identity and leader-follower value congruence. [europepmc]
- Humble Leadership Benefits Employee Job Performance: The Role of Supervisor-Subordinate Guanxi and Perceived Leader Integrity. [europepmc]
- Effects of Leader Conscientiousness and Ethical Leadership on Employee Turnover Intention: The Mediating Role of Individual Ethical Climate and Emotional Exhaustion. [europepmc]
- Reducing Healthcare Employees' Burnout through Ethical Leadership: The Role of Altruism and Motivation. [europepmc]
- Congruence of Effective Leadership Values between Nurse Leaders and Staff Nurses in a Multicultural Medical City in Saudi Arabia: A Sequential Mixed-Methods Study. [europepmc]
- Impact of Co-Worker Ostracism on Organizational Citizenship Behavior Through Employee Self-Identity: The Moderating Role of Ethical Leadership. [europepmc]
- Influences of specialty identity when implementing a new emergency department in Denmark: a qualitative study. [europepmc]
- Mitigating Job Burnout in Jordanian Public Healthcare: The Interplay between Ethical Leadership, Organizational Climate, and Role Overload. [europepmc]
- Relation- and Task-Oriented Roles as Antecedents of Ethical Leadership: Examining Synergistic Effects. [europepmc]
- The Effect of Ethical Leadership on Nurse Bullying, Burnout, and Turnover Intentions. [europepmc]
Related