A Dual-Path Model of Ethical Leadership’s Influence on Civil Servants’ Discretionary Work Behavior: Probing the Social Learning and Social Exchange Processes

The study of ethical leadership has emerged as an important topic for understanding the effects of leadership in the public sector. Existing literature finds that ethical leadership can significantly affect the desirable outcomes of subordinates, but most scholars only research from a single theoretical perspective of social learning or social exchange. In addition, the boundary conditions of the downward effects of ethical leadership have not been fully studied, and there is still a lack of clear theoretical explanations for why ethical leadership cannot effectively affect employee behaviors. This research examines the mechanisms and boundary conditions of ethical leadership influencing civil servants’ discretionary work behaviors. A total of 256 civil servants have participated in this study. Results revealed that ethical leadership can indirectly affect civil servants’ helping behavior and extra effort behavior through moral efficacy, and can also indirectly affect civil servants’ extra effort behavior through felt obligation. Social distance weakened the relationship between ethical leadership and moral efficacy, while power distance strengthened the relationship between ethical leadership and felt obligation. These findings broaden ethical leadership research in the public sector by differentiating the processes through which it affects civil servants’ discretionary work behaviors.