Linking ethical leadership and behavioral outcomes through workplace spirituality: a study on Indian hotel industry

Purpose This study aims to understand and examine the mediating role of workplace spirituality on ethical leadership and behavioral outcomes. The study used the social exchange theory and social learning theory to study the underlying mechanism. Design/methodology/approach The data was collected from 348 frontline hotel employees of North India using convenience sampling. The study used structural equation modeling and Macro PROCESS Hayes (2017) to test the hypothesized model. Findings The study found a positive association between ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior and a negative association between ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior. Workplace spirituality mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and its outcomes. Practical implications The study brings out the significance of ethical leadership and workplace spirituality in enhancing organizational citizenship behavior and reducing unethical pro-organizational behavior. Originality/value There is a paucity of research done on the mediating role of workplace spirituality in understanding its significance in aligning ethical leadership and behavioral outcomes. Hence, the authors attempt to address this gap by understanding the role of workplace spirituality and its association with ethical leadership, unethical pro-organizational behavior and organizational citizenship behavior among the employees of the hotel industry.