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Work–Family Effects of Ethical Leadership

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Abstract

This study examined the relationship between ethical leadership as perceived by employees and the family satisfaction of the employees’ spouses. It also considered the mediating role of the employees’ ethical leadership in the family domain as perceived by their spouses, and the moderating role of the employees’ identification with leader. The results, which were based on a sample of 193 employee–spouse dyads in China, indicated that employees’ perceptions of ethical leadership in the workplace positively influenced their spouses’ family satisfaction. Moreover, employees’ ethical leadership in the family domain mediated this relationship. Furthermore, whereas identification with leader strengthened the relationship between the employees’ perceptions of ethical leadership in the workplace and their ethical leadership demonstrations in the family domain, it weakened the relationship between their ethical leadership demonstrations in the family domain and their spouses’ family satisfaction. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers 71272007, 71302187, 71331004, and 71372005), the Program for Young Excellent Talents, UIBE (Grant Number 2013YQ04), the Beijing Higher Education Young Elite Teacher Project (Grant Number YETP0893), and Ministry of Education in China Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (Project Number 11YJC630098). The authors would like to thank Xu Huang for his helpful comments on early drafts of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business Administration, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, 611130, People’s Republic of China

    Yi Liao

  2. Business School, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, 100029, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Yu Liu

  3. School of International Business Administration, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, 777 Guoding Road, Shanghai, 200433, People’s Republic of China

    Ho Kwong Kwan & Jinsong Li

Authors
  1. Yi Liao
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  2. Xiao-Yu Liu
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  3. Ho Kwong Kwan
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  4. Jinsong Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jinsong Li.

Appendix: The Measure of Ethical Leadership in the Family Domain

Appendix: The Measure of Ethical Leadership in the Family Domain

  1. (1)

    My spouse listens to what family members have to say.

  2. (2)

    My spouse criticizes family members who violate ethical standards.

  3. (3)

    My spouse conducts his/her personal life in an ethical manner.

  4. (4)

    My spouse has the best interests of family members in mind.

  5. (5)

    My spouse makes fair and balanced decisions.

  6. (6)

    My spouse can be trusted.

  7. (7)

    My spouse discusses ethics or values with family members.

  8. (8)

    My spouse sets an example of how to do things the right way in terms of ethics.

  9. (9)

    My spouse defines success not just by results but also the way that they are obtained.

  10. (10)

    When making decisions, my spouse asks “what is the right thing to do?”

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Liao, Y., Liu, XY., Kwan, H.K. et al. Work–Family Effects of Ethical Leadership. J Bus Ethics 128, 535–545 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2119-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2119-6

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