This study examines the influence mechanism of Chinese ethical leadership on university teachers’ salary satisfaction by constructing a moderated mediation model. We randomly collected questionnaire data from 958 university teachers in Gansu Province, China. Key results are as follows: (1) Chinese ethical leadership, trust in colleagues and leaders, salary satisfaction, and workplace mindfulness are significantly positively correlated. (2) Trust in colleagues and leaders partially mediates the relationship between Chinese ethical leadership and salary satisfaction. (3) Workplace mindfulness negatively moderates the link between ethical leadership and trust, with higher mindfulness weakening this positive effect. (4) The moderated mediation effect is significant, as the mediating effect of trust declines with increasing mindfulness. These findings uncover the unique pathway of ethical leadership in shaping faculty salary satisfaction and provide empirical evidence and practical guidance for university management optimization.
Gao et al. (Thu,) studied this question.