In the moral eye of the beholder: the interactive effects of leader and follower moral identity on perceptions of ethical leadership and LMX quality

Abstract

Previous research indicated that leader moral identity (MI; i.e., leaders’ self-definition in terms of moral attributes) predicts to what extent followers perceive their leader as ethical (i.e., demonstrating and promoting ethical conduct in the organization). Leadership, however, is a relational process that involves leaders and followers. Building on this understanding, we hypothesized that follower and leader MI (a) interact in predicting whether followers will perceive their leaders as ethical and, as a result, (b) influence followers’ perceptions of leader–follower relationship quality. A dyadic field study (N = 101) shows that leader MI is a stronger predictor of followers’ perceptions of ethical leadership for followers who are high (vs. low) in MI. Perceptions of ethical leadership in turn predict how the quality of the relationship will be perceived. Hence, whether leader MI translates to perceptions of ethical leadership and of better relationship quality depends on the MI of followers.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Outcomes: A Moderated Mediation Model of Organizational Identification and Moral Identity

“…The fact that employee’s moral identity amplifies the effects of CSR initiatives highlights the additional fact that moral-related individual differences could form the base for individuals’ responses to CSR. Since employees with low moral identity might have different moral conceptualizations ( Giessner et al, 2015 ), we speculate that they would use different moral schemas in dealing with CSR initiatives. Whether an employee’s perception of CSR matches his or her moral identity determines whether he or she identifies with the organization, which offers empirical support that social identity theory could help explain why and how employees respond positively or negatively to their organizations’ CSR initiatives.…”

An Identity Perspective on Ethical Leadership to Explain Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Interplay of Follower Moral Identity and Leader Group Prototypicality

“…This core idea of moral motives being the central driving force behind ethical leader behavior is supported by research showing that ethical leaders are indeed characterized by a higher moral identity (Giessner et al 2015;Mayer et al 2012;Skubinn and Herzog 2016;Zhu et al 2016). Yet, surprisingly, so far there remains limited knowledge about the unique moral processes through which ethical leaders influence followers' OCB (Den Hartog 2015; Ng and Feldman 2015;van Gils et al 2015a, b).…”

“…The two facets of ethical leadership, however, show a high overlap such that managers tend to be perceived as either acting and being ethical or neither of the two. In other words, followers who ascribe ethical leadership to their supervisor assume that morality is an important part of the leader's self-concept and a guiding principle behind the leader's actions (Giessner et al 2015).…”

The trickle‐down effect of ethical leadership in nonprofit soccer clubs

“…Although this conceptualization of ethical leadership has recently been criticized for its vagueness and lack of strong philosophical foundations (Ciulla, Knights, Mabey, & Tomkins, ; Eisenbeiß, ), it remains by far the most elaborate tool to empirically study perceptions of ethical leadership. In addition, the meaning of ethical leadership resides largely in the “moral eye of the beholder,” indicating that ethical leadership is a relational and co‐constructed phenomenon between leader and follower (Giessner, Van Quaquebeke, van Gils, van Knippenberg, & Kollée, ). Ethical leadership might have different meanings depending on the follower who is judging (Giessner et al, ).…”