TY - JOUR
T1 - A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
T2 - Exploring the Relationship Between Leader Humility and Unethical Behavior
AU - K. B, Darren
AU - Lowe, Kevin B.
AU - Bahmannia, Somayeh
AU - Cui, Lin
AU - Chen, Zhen Xiong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Prior research on the effects of leader humility implies that the more humility the leader exhibits, the greater the positive effect on recipients (e.g., followers and teams). However, little or no attention has so far been paid to the effects on the actors (e.g., leaders), who espouse humble behavior. In response to recent calls to theorize and examine how humility impacts these actors, this research draws on moral licensing theory, adopting an actor-centric approach to examine the mechanisms through which leader humility can lead to unethical behavior, such as unethical behavior for an organization (pseudobeneficial) and unethical behavior toward the organization (detrimental). Ultimately, we propose leader relational accountability as a moderator to mitigate the moral licensing effect of humble leaders. Results from a survey study provide support for the proposed hypotheses.
AB - Prior research on the effects of leader humility implies that the more humility the leader exhibits, the greater the positive effect on recipients (e.g., followers and teams). However, little or no attention has so far been paid to the effects on the actors (e.g., leaders), who espouse humble behavior. In response to recent calls to theorize and examine how humility impacts these actors, this research draws on moral licensing theory, adopting an actor-centric approach to examine the mechanisms through which leader humility can lead to unethical behavior, such as unethical behavior for an organization (pseudobeneficial) and unethical behavior toward the organization (detrimental). Ultimately, we propose leader relational accountability as a moderator to mitigate the moral licensing effect of humble leaders. Results from a survey study provide support for the proposed hypotheses.
KW - ethics
KW - identity
KW - leadership
KW - morality and moral behavior
KW - positive organizational behavior
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109849753&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/01492063211029708
DO - 10.1177/01492063211029708
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85109849753
SN - 0149-2063
VL - 48
SP - 2009
EP - 2030
JO - Journal of Management
JF - Journal of Management
IS - 7
ER -