Improving Millennial Employees’ OCB: A Multilevel Mediated and Moderated Model of Ethical Leadership

Abstract

In the field of organizational behavior, the influence of leadership in organizations and the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of employees have always been two hot topics studied by scholars. However, previous studies have mainly examined the OCB of baby boomers and Generation Xers. With millennials now entering the workforce, they will highly likely not take the initiative to engage in OCB due to their different values. Scholars have found that millennials respond well to ethical leadership. Although this statement has a theoretical basis, empirical research regarding this topic is still insufficient. Thus, this study explores whether ethical leadership can effectively promote millennials’ OCB. Moreover, the mediating effect of group-level ethical climate and individual-level affective well-being, and the moderating effect of individual-level moral identity, were examined. The study hypotheses were verified based on 384 valid questionnaires collected from 61 teams using Mplus 8.3. The results showed that (1) ethical leadership was a positive predictor of millennials’ OCB; (2) ethical climate and affective well-being partially mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and OCB; and (3) moral identity moderated the relationship between ethical leadership and affective well-being and the indirect impact of ethical leadership on OCB. These findings provide empirical support for applying social learning theory, social information processing theory, and conservation of resources (COR)theory. This research also provides several managerial implications through which managers can more effectively improve the OCB of millennial employees.

Virtuous leadership, moral behavior, happiness and organizational citizenship: the mediating effect of virtues-centered moral identity

“…Finally, in terms of empirical evidence, followers' moral identity (not necessarily virtues-based) mediates the effects of leader humanity-based behaviors (Ete et al, 2020) and ethical leadership (Gerpott et al, 2019) on follower OCBs. Also, Su and Hahn (2021) found that moral identity (though not necessarily virtues-based) moderated the link between ethical leadership and affective well-being, and the indirect influence of ethical leadership on organizational citizenship. Taken together, we anticipate that follower VCMI also mediates the positive relationship between virtuous leadership and follower OCB.…”

“…Notably, the direct effect was significant (b 5 0.61, SE 5 0.12, 95% CI [0.38,0.84]). Given the lack of support for H4, a supplemental analysis concerning the possible moderating impact of followers' moral identity (see Su and Hahn, 2021) was conducted. This additional analysis was prompted by Wang et al (2021), who integrated self-concept and social learning theory to argue that the extent to which followers emulate the behaviors of an ethical leader depends on both their moral identity and their identification with the leader.…”

“…, 2021; Wang and Hackett, 2016). In line with Su and Hahn (2021), we define OCB as a type of voluntary, discretionary, and altruistic activity that employees conduct outside of their job requirements. It is an especially valued outcome that builds social capital, and contributes overall organizational efficiency and effectiveness (Podsakoff et al.…”

“…In comparison to these direct effects, all of which were grounded in attribution (Kelley, 1972) and social learning (Bandura, 1986) theory, evidence supportive of a role for VCMI would offer a completely new explanation for the positive outcomes associated with virtuous leadership. Second, we expand on the Wang and Hackett (2020) theory by also hypothesizing a role for VCMI in relation to the influence of virtuous leadership on subordinates' OCB (Podsakoff et al, 2009;Su and Hahn, 2021).…”

“…Second, we expand on the Wang and Hackett (2020) theory by also hypothesizing a role for VCMI in relation to the influence of virtuous leadership on subordinates’ OCB (Podsakoff et al. , 2009; Su and Hahn, 2021).…”