How Does Ethical Leadership Trickle Down? Test of an Integrative Dual-Process Model

Zhen Wang (), Haoying Xu () and Yukun Liu ()
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Zhen Wang: Central University of Finance and Economics
Haoying Xu: Central University of Finance and Economics
Yukun Liu: National University of Singapore

Journal of Business Ethics, 2018, vol. 153, issue 3, No 6, 705 pages

Abstract: Abstract Although the trickle-down effect of ethical leadership has been documented in the literature, its underlying mechanism still remains largely unclear. To address this gap, we develop a cross-level dual-process model to explain how the effect occurs. Drawing on social learning theory, we hypothesize that the ethical leadership of high-level managers could cascade to middle-level supervisors via its impact on middle-level supervisors’ two ethical expectations. Using a sample of 69 middle-level supervisors and 381 subordinates across 69 sub-branches from a large banking firm in China, we found that middle-level supervisors’ ethical efficacy expectation and unethical behavior–punishment expectation (as one form of ethical outcome expectations) accounted for the trickle-down effect. The explanatory role of middle-level supervisors’ ethical behavior–reward expectation (as the other form of ethical outcome expectations), however, was not supported. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords: Ethical leadership; Ethical efficacy expectation; Ethical outcome expectation; Social learning theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3361-x

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