Antecedents of ethical leadership: the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of ethical leadership by drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The authors hypothesized that a leader’s attitude toward ethical behavior, subjective norm about ethical behavior and perceived behavioral control relate to his/her ethical intention and subsequently to the follower’s perceptions of ethical leadership. Design/methodology/approach The authors found general support for the model using data collected from a two-wave and two-source field study involving 119 supervisor-subordinate dyads. Findings The results demonstrated that the leader’s favorable attitude toward ethical behavior and perceived behavioral control predicted his/her ethical intention and subsequently to the follower’s perception of ethical leadership, whereas the subjective norm did not. Practical implications The findings of the study provide important insights into developing relevant training and intervention programs in organizations to cultivate ethical leadership. These can be done by encouraging leaders’ ethical intentions through changing their attitudinal and control beliefs regarding ethical behavior. Study findings also provide important insight on developing the recruiting device in a way that would help selecting individuals who may have favorable beliefs toward ethical behavior and thus have the potential to be an ethical leader. Originality/value This study first demonstrates the applicability of the TPB in examining the antecedents of ethical leadership.

Exploratory examination of environmental protection behaviors in a hospital setting using the theory of planned behavior and ethical leadership

“…Results showed that ethical leadership had the strongest positive correlation with subjective norms, as informal pressure from supervisors was usually a positive force, especially during change management. The positive correlation of ethical leadership with attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control was evidenced, similar to existing literature [72][73][74]. Qin et al [72] surveyed workers from hotels and golf clubs in China and observed that ethical leadership improved workers' customer-oriented behavior through their individual work attitudes.…”

“…At the same time, the field of ethical leadership was broad and developing. Although uncommon, attempts were made to bridge ethical leadership and the theory of planned behavior [72][73][74]. The focus of this research aimed to apply the theory of planned behavior and ethical leadership to determine the factors influencing the adoption of environmental protection behaviors in a hospital setting.…”

The impact of ethical leadership on employee creative deviance: the mediating role of job autonomy

“…Harnessing the benefits of creative deviance and avoiding its damages are thus a big challenge for the leaders and the integrity of leaders is essential in this context. Previous research has acknowledged that leadership plays a crucial role in nurturing positive employee behavior including creativity (Afsar and Shahjehan, 2018;Amundsen and Martinsen, 2015;Gong et al, 2009;Rahaman et al, 2019;Shafique et al, 2019), however, limited attention from researchers has been paid to examining the relationship between ethical leadership and creative deviance.…”

It is not OK but it works – unproductive entrepreneurship, the case of Poland

“…Ajzen's theory has been repeatedly verified, a meta-analysis carried out by Armitage showed the high effectiveness of the model in predicting behaviour and intentions (Armitage & Conner, 2001). The model was previously used for the research of unethical activities related to corruption (Rabl & K€ uhlmann, 2009) and tax compliance intentions (Benk et al, 2011), mostly because it provides an appropriate fit for modelling individual ethical reasoning (Fleischman & Valentine, 2019;Rahaman et al, 2019).…”