Employee Ethical Silence Under Exploitative Leadership: The Roles of Work Meaningfulness and Moral Potency

Abstract

Employees remaining silent about ethical aspects of work or organization-related issues, termed employee ethical silence, perpetuates misconduct in today’s business setting. However, how and why it occurs is not yet well specified in the business ethics literature, which is insufficient to manage corporate misconducts. In this research, we investigate how and when exploitative leadership associates with employee ethical silence. We draw from the conservation of resources theory to theorize and test a cognitive resource pathway (i.e., work meaningfulness) and a moral resource pathway (i.e., moral potency) to explain the association between exploitative leadership and employee ethical silence. Results from two studies largely support our hypotheses that work meaningfulness and moral potency mediate the effect of exploitative leadership on ethical silence contingent on performance reward expectancy. Theoretical and practical implications are thoroughly discussed in the paper.

The Relationship among Internet Addiction, Moral Potency, Mindfulness, and Psychological Capital

“…Previous studies have discussed the protective role of positive psychological resources [ 27 , 70 ]. For example, psychological resources improve the MP of employees [ 7 , 27 , 72 , 73 ]. Our study adds a new dimension by specifically linking these findings to the context of Ethiopian University students.…”

“…Sondhi and Joshi [16] developed the 17-item IAS to assess an individual's excessive and compulsive internet use that interferes with their daily functioning. The scale utilizes a 7-point response format ranging from "Very Strongly Disagree" (1) to "Very Strongly Agree" (7). The IAS encompasses four core dimensions that demonstrate sound psychometric properties: (1) Internet Craving (IC)-5 items, α = 0.771, CR = 0.836; (2) Internet Compulsive Disorder (ICD)-4 items, α = 0.776, CR = 0.857; (3) Addictive Behavior (AB)-4 items, α = 0.741, CR = 0.802; and (4) Internet Obsession (IO)-4 items, α = 0.663, CR = 0.862.…”

“…It refers to excessive or compulsive internet use that leads to significant impairment in different aspects of individuals’ lives over an extended period [ 3 ]. A particular interest is the relationship between IA and moral development among adolescents [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Researchers have explored how IA can potentially impact adolescents’ moral potency (MP), which encompasses their ability to achieve moral purpose, exhibit moral courage in the face of adversity, and persevere through challenges [ 8 ].…”

Expanding the dimensions of knowledge hiding: testing a moderated mediation model and analyzing the mediating role of psychological distress using PLS-SEM

“…Specifically, a high level of job complexity is required to mitigate the influence of unethical leadership on psychological distress, which, in turn, decreases knowledge hiding (Qin et al, 2021). In addition, exploitative leadership is unethical to subordinates because such leaders are solely self-centered and exploit subordinates' limited resources such as energy and time (Wang et al, 2023b). Overall, psychological distress is a core element of knowledge hiding.…”