Ethical Leadership and Ethical Voice: The Mediating Mechanisms of Value Internalization and Integrity Identity

Abstract

Drawing upon self-concept and social-information processing perspectives, we theorize and test a model linking ethical leadership with ethical voice via ethical value internalization and integrity identity. In two field studies ( N = 972 and N = 765, respectively) of police officers and staff in the United Kingdom and an online three-wave study ( N = 448), we investigate the mediating role of ethical value internalization and integrity identity in the relationship between ethical leadership and ethical voice. Study 1 uses time-lagged data and demonstrates ethical leadership to be positively related to followers’ ethical value internalization, which in turn enhances their integrity identity and ethical voice. The serial mediation effect of the relationship between ethical leadership and ethical voice via employees’ ethical value internalization and integrity identity is also significant. Further support for our hypotheses is provided using multisource data (Study 2) and a three-wave cross-lagged design (Study 3). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Employee Voice: A Mechanism to Harness Employees’ Potential for Sustainable Success

“…Ethical leadership (EL) facilitates employees’ engagement and encourages them to speak up [ 11 ]. Many studies have demonstrated the impact of EL on-employee voice, for example, see [ 12 , 13 ]. Such leaders also welcome and acknowledge followers’ ideas, connect followers in decisions, delegate powers, and establish a principled and fair structure [ 14 ].…”

Linking ethical leadership to employees' emotional exhaustion: a chain mediation model

“…As an important situational factors in the organization (Zheng et al. , 2015), ethical leadership can shape employees' behaviors such as ethical voice (Zheng et al. , 2022).…”

“…This finding suggests that both organizations and managers should attach great importance to the role of ethical leadership. On the one hand, organizations are supposed to identify, select, promote and cultivate ethical leadership (Kim and Vandenberghe, 2021; Zheng et al. , 2022).…”

“…type of job and hours per week) (see Gibson et al, 2014). As an important situational factors in the organization (Zheng et al, 2015), ethical leadership can shape employees' behaviors such as ethical voice (Zheng et al, 2022). However, little remains known regarding the relation between ethical leadership and organizational networking behavior.…”

“…This finding suggests that both organizations and managers should attach great importance to the role of ethical leadership. On the one hand, organizations are supposed to identify, select, promote and cultivate ethical leadership (Kim and Vandenberghe, 2021;Zheng et al, 2022). This can be achieved through incorporating ethical leadership behaviors into performance appraisals, establishing reward and punishment standards, and providing leadership training programs for supervisors at all levels (Ferreira, 2017;Zhou et al, 2020).…”