Leader Moral Identity/Attentiveness and Follower Moral Identity/Attentiveness

Abstract

In the expanding field of ethical leadership research, little attention has been paid to the association between ethical leaders’ personal ethical characteristics (beyond personality) and perceived ethical leadership, and the potential influence of ethical leadership on followers’ personal ethical characteristics. In this study, we tested a theoretical model to examine leaders’ moral identity and moral attentiveness as antecedents of perceived ethical leadership, and follower moral identity and moral attentiveness as outcomes of ethical leadership. Based upon data from 89 leaders and 460 followers in China, collected at two points in time, we found that leaders’ moral identity and moral attentiveness (group level) are associated with follower’s perceptions of ethical leadership. Ethical leadership is, in turn, associated with followers’ moral identity and moral attentiveness (individual level). We found furthermore that ethical leadership mediates the effect of leaders’ moral identity and moral attentiveness on followers’ moral identity and moral attentiveness. We discuss theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future research.