Can a leader be seen as too ethical? The curvilinear effects of ethical leadership

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Stouten, J., Van Dijke, M. ORCID: 0000-0001-9974-5050, Van Mayer, D.M., De Cremer, D. and Euwema, M.C., 2013. Can a leader be seen as too ethical? The curvilinear effects of ethical leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 24 (5), pp. 680-695. ISSN 1048-9843

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.05.002

Abstract

Ethical leadership predicts important organizational outcomes such as decreased deviant and increased organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). We argued that due to the distinct nature of these two types of employee behaviors, ethical leadership decreases deviance in a linear manner (i.e., more ethical leadership leading to less deviance), but we expected ethical leadership to reveal a curvilinear relationship with respect to OCB. Specifically, we expected that, at lower levels, ethical leadership promotes OCB. However, at high levels, ethical leadership should lead to a decrease in these behaviors. We also examined a mechanism that explains this curvilinear pattern, that is, followers’ perceptions of moral reproach. Our predictions were supported in three organizational field studies and an experiment. These findings offer a better understanding of the processes that underlie the workings of ethical leadership. They also imply a dilemma for organizations in which they face the choice between limiting deviant employee behavior and promoting OCB.

Item Type:

Journal article

Alternative Title:

Can a leader be seen as too ethical? [running head]

Publication Title:

The Leadership Quarterly

Creators:

Stouten, J., Van Dijke, M., Van Mayer, D.M., De Cremer, D. and Euwema, M.C.

Publisher:

Elsevier

Date:

2013