What Difference Do Ethical Leaders Make? Exploring the Mediating Role of Interpersonal Justice and the Moderating Role of Public Service Motivation

Abstract

ABSTRACTPublic management scholars have lamented the lack of research examining the influence of ethical leadership on employee behaviors in the public sector. Using a multi-source dataset of 196 public employees in 44 work units, we sought to address this gap by examining how and when ethical leadership influences employee job performance (i.e., task performance and citizenship behaviors). Drawing on social exchange theory, we propose that ethical leadership behavior exhibited by supervisors will influence perceptions of interpersonal justice, which, in turn, will positively impact employee job performance. In addition, we hypothesize that the effect of interpersonal justice perceptions will be moderated by public service motivation. Our findings reveal that the influence of ethical leadership was fully mediated by perceptions of interpersonal justice. This influence, in turn, was moderated by public service motivation, such that those with lower public service motivation were most strongly affected by interpersonal justice perceptions. The findings provide support for our proposed moderated mediation model. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.