Perceived ethical leadership: Its moderating influence on employees’ organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviours

Jeremy Mitonga-Monga, Frans Cilliers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study investigated the extent to which employees’ perception of ethical leadership moderated their organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour. A non-probability purposive sample (N = 839; females = 32%) of employees in a railway organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) participated in the study. They completed the following measures: the Organisational Commitment Scale (OCS), the Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Questionnaire (OCBQ) and the Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS). Stepwise hierarchical regression analysis was utilised to determine the influence of employees’ perceptions of the relationships between their self-reported organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour. The results indicated employee perceptions of the integrity, fairness and honesty aspects of ethical leadership to explain their affective, continuance and normative aspects of organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour. The results also showed that employee perceptions of high ethical leadership influenced their willingness to engage in positive organisational commitment such as psychological attachment, work continuance, normative commitment and also their organisational citizen behaviours such as altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy and civic virtue. By implication, leaders with high ethical conduct have the potential to positively stimulate the commitment of employees towards supporting the organisational values and mission.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)35-42
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Psychology in Africa
Volume26
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
  • ethical leadership
  • organisational citizenship behaviour
  • organisational commitment

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Psychology

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