Virtuous leadership, moral behavior, happiness and organizational citizenship: the mediating effect of virtues-centered moral identity

Abstract

PurposeGuided by the importance ascribed to the self-cultivation of virtue, the authors examined virtues-centered moral identity (VCMI) as a mediator of the positive relationship between virtuous leadership and several valued personal and organizational outcomes.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses were tested using data from 131 leader–subordinate dyads based in the USA and Canada, using the SPSS Statistics Software 27.0 PROCESS Macro v 3.5.FindingsLeaders’ VCMI mediates the positive effects of virtuous leadership (subordinate-rated) on leaders’ moral behavior (subordinate-rated) and their self-rated happiness. Followers’ VCMI mediates the positive effects of virtuous leadership on organizational citizenship (as judged by leaders) and self-rated happiness of followers. Followers’ VCMI did not mediate between virtuous leadership and followers’ moral behavior.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough participants of this study were from a variety of industries, the sample was based in the USA and Canada; hence, any culture-specific leader behaviors and processes were likely missed. Moreover, some of the relationships examined involved data from the same source such that these associations may have been artificially inflated by common method variance. Even so, in each case, the sources we used (leader and follower) were appropriate to the research question. Nonetheless, for example, to collect Virtuous Leadership Questionnaire (VLQ)-based assessments from other stakeholders (e.g. peers and customers) remains of interest.Practical implicationsA practiced strong sense of VCMI has the potential to short-circuit unethical behavior and contribute to happiness among both subordinates and leaders. VCMI is implicated in the fostering of subordinates’ organizational citizenship as well.Social implicationsThe authors' findings imply that leaders and followers can acquire knowledge structures associated with moral virtues and virtuous acts through formal and informal learning, suggesting an affirmative answer to the question, “Are virtuous acts teachable? This is an important starting point in developing theoretically sound programs for promoting virtuous acts as called for by many scholars and practitioners. The authors' study highlights the importance of virtues-related education because VCMI is likely developed through formal learning.Originality/valueThe authors' VCMI mediation-based findings offer a completely new explanation for the positive functioning of virtuous leadership, which formerly had been grounded in attribution and social learning processes only.

Does servant leadership affect organisational citizenship behaviour? Mediating role of affective commitment and moderating role of role identity of young volunteers in non-profit organisations

“…, 2020; Eva et al. , 2019; Wang and Hackett, 2022). When servant leaders care about the growth and development of their subordinates, they become admirable and are perceived as having integrity; as a result, subordinates may feel psychologically obligated to reciprocate through OCB (Eva et al.…”

“…This is because these behaviours are often internally motivated and supported by employees' innate need to feel fulfilled, knowledgeable, involved or connected to the organisation (Ma et al, 2023). Employees often feel obligated or accountable to demonstrate OCB in return for the psychosocial care they experience or observe in their managers (supervisors) (Elche et al, 2020;Eva et al, 2019;Wang and Hackett, 2022). When servant leaders care about the growth and development of their subordinates, they become admirable and are perceived as having integrity; as a result, subordinates may feel psychologically obligated to reciprocate through OCB (Eva et al, 2019;Malik et al, 2022).…”

“…Furthermore, Malik et al (2022) emphasise the relationship between servant leadership and project success with the mediating role of emotional intelligence and work stress and the moderating role of team effectiveness among 441 project team members working on various developed projects in Pakistan. In addition, Wang and Hackett (2022) examine virtuous leadership, moral behaviour, happiness, and organisational commitment with the mediating effect of virtue-centred moral identity among 131 leader-follower dyads in the US and Canada. However, these studies differ from the present study as it disregarded the mediating role of affective commitment and the moderating role of role identity.…”

Neuroleadership: a new way for happiness management

“…Previous literature in recent years has analysed different effects of leadership and its types on employee well-being and happiness in the workplace. Positive effects on happiness at work have been found for different types of leadership such as virtuous leadership (Wang and Hackett, 2022 ), inspirational leadership (Salas-Vallina et al, 2020 ), altruistic leadership (Salas-Vallina and Alegre, 2018 ), authentic leadership (Semedo et al, 2017 ; 2019 ), spiritual leadership (Srivastava et al, 2022 ), ethical leadership (Yang, 2014 ), or servant leadership (Alahbabi and Al-shami, 2021 ; Salas-Vallina and Fernández-Guerrero, 2018 ). But one of the most studied is transformational leadership, which has been considered an antecedent of happiness at work (Salas-Vallina et al, 2017 ; Setiawan et al, 2020 ).…”

“…However, the literature studying leadership and happiness is still in its early stages. Different leadership effects and their types on worker well-being and job happiness have been analysed (e.g., Salas-Vallina and Alegre, 2018;Salas-Vallina et al, 2017;Salas-Vallina et al, 2020;Semedo et al, 2017;Setiawan et al, 2020;Wang and Hackett, 2022). Changes in managers' leadership styles can help improve happiness and job satisfaction (Ahmadiyan et al, 2022).…”