Linking Ethical Leadership to Employee Burnout, Workplace Deviance and Performance: Testing the Mediating Roles of Trust in Leader and Surface Acting

Shenjiang Mo and Junqi Shi ()
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Shenjiang Mo: Sun Yat-sen University
Junqi Shi: Sun Yat-sen University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2017, vol. 144, issue 2, No 7, 293-303

Abstract: Abstract This study empirically investigated the impact of ethical leadership on employee burnout, deviant behavior and task performance through two psychological mechanisms: (1) developing higher levels of employee trust in leaders and (2) demonstrating lower levels of surface acting toward their leaders. Our theoretical model was tested using data collected from employees of a pharmaceutical retail chain company. Analyses of multisource time-lagged data from 45 team leaders and 247 employees showed that employees’ trust in leaders and surface acting significantly mediated the relationships between ethical leadership and employee burnout, deviant behavior and task performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for understanding how ethical leaders influence employees’ attitudes and behavior.

Keywords: Ethical leadership; Employee burnout; Deviant behavior; Trust in leaders; Surface acting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2821-z

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