Ethicality neutralization and amplification: a multilevel study of ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior
Journal of Managerial Psychology
ISSN: 0268-3946
Article publication date: 4 August 2021
Issue publication date: 22 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines how ethical leadership (EL) influences followers' willingness to conduct unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) via reciprocity beliefs at the individual level and political climate at the group level.
Design/methodology/approach
Two-point survey data were collected from 423 Chinese followers from 81 groups, and multilevel structural equation modeling was conducted to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Individual-level EL unintentionally increases follower UPB willingness by fostering reciprocity beliefs, while group-level EL intentionally reduces follower UPB willingness by controlling the political climate. The political climate plays both a cross-level moderated mediation role and a mediated moderation role between EL and UPB.
Practical implications
When seeking to decrease followers' intention to conduct UPB, managers are advised to use individual-level EL with care when the focus is on reciprocity, and they should consider using group-level EL more when the focus is on controlling political climate.
Originality/value
The study supports two distinct mediating mechanisms by examining individual-level EL (as a moral person) vs group-level EL (as a moral manager) on UPB, thereby revealing the reason for the mixed effects of EL on UPB.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editor(s) and the anonymous reviewer(s) for their comments on earlier versions of the paper. The authors also would like to thank Philosophy and Social Science Fund of Henan Province [Grant Number 2019CJJ093], and Humanities and Social Science Fund of The Education Department of Henan Province [Grant Number 2021-ZZJH-077] for providing funding for this research.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Funding: This study was jointly funded by Philosophy and Social Science Fund of Henan Province (Grant Number, 2019CJJ093), and Humanities and Social Science Fund of The Education Department of Henan Province (Grant Number, 2021-ZZJH-077).
Citation
Tang, Y. and Li, Y. (2022), "Ethicality neutralization and amplification: a multilevel study of ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 111-124. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-06-2020-0342
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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