Examining the Link between Ethical Leadership and Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: The Mediating Role of Ethical Climate & The Moderating Role of Moral Courage

Abstract

This study explored how ethical leadership impacts unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), with an ethical climate serving as a mediator and moral courage as a moderator. It underscores the crucial role of ethical leadership in sustaining organizational health and success. By employing a quantitative approach, the research assessed the influence of ethical leadership on UPB and examined how moral courage and ethical climate moderate and mediate this relationship. This research design investigates a path as to why some employees learn to repress UPB or are inspired by their direct leader to do the right thing while others do not. A total of 250 full-time workers from various organizations within the United States responded to the questionnaire survey. The data was analyzed using SmartPLS 3 for the SEM-PLS modeling and analysis and SPSS 28 for descriptive statistics. The results indicate a significant positive relationship between ethical leadership and ethical climate, with ethical climate mediating the link between ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). Unexpectedly, ethical leadership demonstrated a negative and insignificant relationship with UPB, and moral courage did not significantly moderate the relationship between ethical climate and UPB. These findings suggest that leaders should implement policies and procedures rooted in strong ethical principles to promote ethical behavior and reduce UPB.