Ethical Leadership, Work Meaningfulness, and Work Engagement in the Public Sector

Abstract

This study responds to recent calls for research on how and why ethical leadership is related to employee outcomes. Drawing on self-concept–based theory and substitutes-for-leadership theory, the study examines both the mediating and moderating role of work meaningfulness on the relationship between ethical leadership and work engagement. Using a sample of Egyptian public hospital nurses, the results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that work meaningfulness partially mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and engagement. Furthermore, the results showed the positive relationship between ethical leadership and work engagement was stronger for employees who experienced lower rather than higher levels of meaningfulness. Thus, public sector organizations need to put emphasis on nurturing ethical leadership and stimulating employees’ sense of work meaningfulness. However, they need to be aware that, sometimes, they may not be able to get “double the benefits” when they invest in developing both.

The Role of Ethical Leadership in Promoting Employee Innovative Work Behavior Mediated by the Perceived Meaningful Work Among the Ict Sector Staff in Oman

“…The third major finding is that there is ethical leadership exert a significant positive influence on employees' perceived meaningful work. This finding is consistent with the findings of earlier studies including Wang and Xu (2019); and Mostafa and Abed El-Motalib (2020). Our fourth finding is that we did not find support for the mediating role of perceived meaningful work between the relationship of ethical leadership and employee innovative work behavior.…”

“…In the present study, we used meaningful work as a mediator since it is not investigated in previous studies with this set of exogenous and endogenous variables. The underlying argument for meaningful work as a mediator is that it is predicted by ethical leadership (Mostafa & Abed El-Motalib, 2020;Wang & Xu, 2019) and also found to be influencing employee innovative work behavior (Akgunduz et al, 2018;Pradhan & Jena, 2019;Tu & Lu, 2013). Thus, we expect that it may function as a mediator and connecting the two constructs.…”

“…For instance, Wang and Xu (2019) study indicated that ethical leadership exerts a significant influence on employees' perceived meaningful work. Another study by Mostafa and Abed El-Motalib (2020) showed a positive impact of ethical leadership on employee meaningfulness work among the employees of public sector organizations. Based on the previous studies' findings, we propose the following hypothesis.…”

How do teachers perceive meaningful leadership? Overview of a qualitative exploration

“…Studies suggest meaningfulness at work is generally associated with increased levels of motivation and engagement at work (Mostafa & Abed El-Motalib, 2020). Motivation can be fostered through several sources: physical needs, goals, beliefs, meaning and meaningfulness.…”

Ethical Leadership and Whistleblowing: Mediating Role of Stress and Moderating Effect of Interactional Justice

“…Recent research has significantly enhanced our understanding of behavioral ethics in the workplace. It has explained the different mechanisms, in the context of leadership, ethical leadership positively associated with psychological ownership (Avey, Wernsing, & Palanski, 2012), cognitive and affective trust (Lu, 2014), moral attentiveness (Rabie & Malek, 2020) job autonomy (Kalshoven, Den Hartog, & de Hoogh, 2013), job satisfaction (Kim & Brymer, 2011), meaningfulness (Mostafa & Abed El-Motalib, 2020) and whistleblowing. However, the factors through which ethical leadership gets influenced are still limited and fragmented.…”