Explaining the relationship between ethical leadership and burnout facets in the academic context: the mediating role of illegitimate tasks
International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior
ISSN: 1093-4537
Article publication date: 30 November 2021
Issue publication date: 6 June 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Although the literature shows that ethical leadership reduces the risk of burnout, research still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the mediating effects between ethical leadership and burnout. As media reports on working conditions in the academic context often tie the problem of unethical leadership practices to illegitimate tasks, this study focuses on illegitimate tasks as a mediator between ethical leadership and burnout.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model is tested using structural equation modeling and data from 1,053 doctoral and postdoctoral students in randomly selected German state universities.
Findings
The results significantly support all hypothesized effects, showing direct correlations between (1) ethical leadership and illegitimate tasks, (2) ethical leadership and burnout facets and (3) illegitimate tasks and burnout facets. The relationship between ethical leadership and burnout is thus partially mediated by illegitimate tasks.
Practical implications
The authors recommend three major fields of action for practice. These fields comprise (1) the leadership situation, (2) the leader and (3) the follower.
Originality/value
The presented model is the first that connects the relationship between ethical leadership and burnout with illegitimate tasks and looks at ethical leadership from a stress-as-offense-to-self (SOS) perspective.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Declaration of interest statement
Funding: There was no funding.
Conflict of interest/competing interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Citation
Julmi, C., Pereira, J.M., Bramlage, J.K. and Jackenkroll, B. (2022), "Explaining the relationship between ethical leadership and burnout facets in the academic context: the mediating role of illegitimate tasks", International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, Vol. 25 No. 1/2, pp. 39-55. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-11-2020-0204
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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