Abstract
PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of ethical leadership on job satisfaction, affective commitment and burnout of health care employees, considering frustration tolerance and emotional stability as moderating variables.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire was used to survey health care professionals working in private and public Austrian health-care organizations (hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and sanatoriums). The questionnaire consisted of items from well-established scales. The collected data (n = 458) was analyzed using correlation and regression analyzes.FindingsFindings indicated that ethical leadership is significantly positively related to job satisfaction (r = 0.485, p < 0.01) and affective commitment (r = 0.461, p < 0.01) and is significantly negatively related to burnout (r = −0.347, p < 0.01). The results also suggest that frustration tolerance (ß = 0.101, p < 0.1) and emotional stability (ß = 0.093, p < 0.1) moderate the relationship between ethical leadership and burnout. Furthermore, a moderation effect of emotional stability in the ethical leadership and affective commitment relation was indicated. No moderation effect was found for frustration tolerance or emotional stability for the relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction.Practical implicationsEthical leadership emphasizes the socio-emotional dimension in a leader-employee relationship, which can easily be neglected in times of staff cuts and work overload. Leadership training should include the development of skills in how to visibly act as a moral person, as well as how to set clear ethical standards and communicate them to employees.Originality/valueThis study adds value to the limited evidence on the beneficial role of ethical leadership in health care settings. In addition, frustration tolerance and emotional stability have not before been investigated as moderators.
Highlights
Health-care organizations are expected to assume responsibility for society, promoting public health, respecting the rights and dignity of patients and ensuring humanity and patient safety
Consistent with previous studies conducted in different contexts, findings revealed a significant and positive direct effect of ethical leadership on job satisfaction and affective commitment and a significant negative direct effect on burnout
Concerning the moderating role of frustration tolerance and emotional stability, results confirm this role in the relationship between ethical leadership and burnout
Summary
Health-care organizations are expected to assume responsibility for society, promoting public health, respecting the rights and dignity of patients and ensuring humanity and patient safety. Ethical leadership highlights the role of leaders in generating an atmosphere of trust, integrity and fairness (Mendonca and Kanungo, 2007). Given their positions of authority and status in the organizational hierarchy, leaders are receiving particular attention from employees (Neubert et al, 2009). Their legitimate power, control of resources and responsibility enables them to influence both the ethical organizational climate and the individual behaviors of organizational members (Mayer et al, 2009; Schaubroeck et al, 2012)
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