The Impact of Ethical Leadership on Employees’ In‐Role Performance: The Mediating Effect of Employees’ Psychological Ownership

Abstract

The aim of the current research was to identify the influences of ethical leadership on employees’ in‐role performance in the Korean public nonprofit agency setting. The mediating effect of employees’ psychological ownership was also examined. A total of 202 responses were analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to test study hypotheses. Results showed that while the level of ethical leadership significantly impacts employees’ psychological ownership, ethical leadership has a significant indirect impact on in‐role performance only through employees’ psychological ownership. These results support the mediating role of the level of employees’ psychological ownership in explaining the relationship between ethical leadership and in‐role performance levels of employees. Research limitations and implications are discussed and future research directions are suggested.