Supervisors’ Ethical Leadership and Employee Job Satisfaction: A Social Cognitive Perspective

Yidong Tu (), Xinxin Lu () and Yue Yu
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Yidong Tu: Wuhan University
Xinxin Lu: Renmin University of China
Yue Yu: Wuhan University

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2017, vol. 18, issue 1, No 11, 229-245

Abstract: Abstract Although several studies explored the relationship between supervisors’ ethical leadership and employee job satisfaction, little information is available on this relationship in the Chinese context. We propose that moral cognition is an essential process in the relationship between supervisor’s ethical leadership and employee subjective well-being. The present study, through the lens of the social cognitive theory, examined the relationship between supervisors’ ethical leadership and employee job satisfaction, as well as the employee moral-cognitive processes between them. Based on 371 employees in a Chinese enterprise, the present study employed structural equation modeling to examine the hypothesized research model. The results confirmed that supervisors’ ethical leadership was positively related to employee moral awareness, moral identity and job satisfaction, respectively. Moreover, employee moral awareness and moral identity partially mediated the relationship between supervisors’ ethical leadership and employee job satisfaction. The theoretical and managerial implications were further discussed.

Keywords: Supervisors’ ethical leadership; Employee moral awareness; Employee moral identity; Employee job satisfaction; Social cognitive theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10902-016-9725-1

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