It’s all a matter of consensus: Leader role modeling strength as a moderator of the links between ethical leadership and employee outcomes

The present research examines the relationships between ethical leadership and unit-level organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) and individual-level job satisfaction. In addition, this study tests the proposition that the impact of ethical leadership on these outcomes is moderated by leader role modeling strength, a unit-level construct that captures within-group consensus regarding the extent to which unit members perceived the leader as a role model of ethical behaviors at work. To these ends, the article draws on social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) and social identity theory (Ashforth and Mael, 1989). The results provide support for the proposed theoretical model in a sample of 297 employees nested in 58 work units. Specifically, ethical leadership was more strongly and positively associated with unit-level OCB and individual-level job satisfaction in work units reporting higher (versus lower) leader role modeling strength. This research highlights the importance of studying leader role modeling perceptions in order to better understand the boundary conditions of the impact of ethical leadership on employee attitudes and behaviors.