When Employees Retaliate Against Self-Serving Leaders: The Influence of the Ethical Climate

Stijn Decoster (), Jeroen Stouten () and Thomas M. Tripp ()
Additional contact information
Stijn Decoster: Zayed University
Jeroen Stouten: KU Leuven
Thomas M. Tripp: Washington State University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2021, vol. 168, issue 1, No 13, 195-213

Abstract: Abstract Leaders have been shown to sometimes act self-servingly. Yet, leaders do not act in isolation and the perceptions of the ethical climate in which leaders operate is expected to contribute to employees taking counteractive measures against their leader (that is, employees’ desire for retaliation, and supervisor-directed deviance). We contend that in an ethical climate employees feel better equipped to stand up and take retaliation measures. Moreover, we argue that this is explained by employees’ feelings of trust. In two studies using different methods (an experimental study and a multi-source study), we predict and find evidence that the relationship between self-serving leader behavior and employees’ desire for retaliation and supervisor-directed deviance is stronger when the ethical climate is high rather than low. Moreover, we show that trust in the leader mediates these relationships.

Keywords: Self-serving leader behavior; Ethical climate; Social exchange; Social information processing theory; Supervisor-directed deviance; Desire for retaliation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-019-04218-4

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