Does Ethical Voice Matter? Examining How Peer Team Leader Ethical Voice and Role Modeling Relate to Ethical Leadership

• Published in: Journal of business ethics Vol. 192; no. 1; pp. 113 - 128
• Main Authors: Kim, Dongkyu, Choi, Dongwon, Son, Seung Yeon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-06-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Business and Management; Business Ethics; Education; Efficacy; Ethics; Leadership; Management; Original Paper; Peers; Philosophy; Quality of Life Research; Social learning; Teams; Peer leader ethical role modeling; Social learning theory; Peer leader ethical voice; Coworker influence; Moral efficacy; Ethical leadership
• ISSN: 0167-4544; 1573-0697
• DOI: 10.1007/s10551-023-05477-y

The present study explores a neglected area of ethical leadership: lateral behavioral effect from peer team leaders as a key predictor of ethical leadership. Using the lens of social learning theory, we posit that peer team leader ethical voice fosters focal team leader ethical leadership through team leader moral efficacy. In line with social learning perspective, we also posit the moderating effect of ethical role modeling of peer team leader in relationship between peer team leader ethical voice and team leader moral efficacy. We conducted a two-wave study over a 6-week interval between waves from military teams. Our results provided support for all of our hypotheses. In addition, we also found an incremental validity of peer ethical voice behavior by controlling other relevant factors such as upper leaders’ ethical role modeling and peer ethical leadership. Our findings contribute to the advancement of ethical leadership literature by articulating a novel antecedent as well as its boundary condition.