Ethical Leadership and Work Engagement, Job-related Affective Well-being in the COVID-19: The Role of Organizational Trust

Abstract

Based on social exchange theory (SET) and social learning theory (SLT), followers reciprocate the behaviours of their leaders and followers imitate the behaviours of their leaders and try to do the same. Following the tenet, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of ethical leadership on organizational trust, work engagement, and job-related affective wellbeing in the COVID-19 context. Data was collected from the nursing staff of three big Pakistani cities hospitals i.e. Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad (as these cities represent the entire population). Out of 700, the 390 survey questionnaires were finalized for data analysis. It was noted that ethical leadership is positively associated with organizational trust, work engagement, and job-related affective wellbeing. Moreover, results revealed that organizational trust is positively associated with work engagement and Job-related effective wellbeing. The hierarchical regression for mediation showed that organizational trust mediates between ethical leadership and (work engagement, Job-related affective wellbeing).