The effects of authentic leadership on followers' ethical decision-making in the face of temptation: An experimental study

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The effects of authentic leadership on followers' ethical decision-making in the face of temptation: An experimental study
The Leadership Quarterly

The present research investigates the impact of authentic leadership on followers' morality operationalized as ethical decision-making in the face of temptation. This experiment finds that authentic leadership and temptation interacted to affect individuals' ethical decision-making. Specifically authentic leadership significantly inhibited individuals' from making unethical decisions in the face of temptation whereas followers of neutral or less authentic leaders were more likely to succumb to temptation. Authentic leadership did not have a significant impact on ethical decision-making when temptation was absent. Further results showed a significant moderated-mediated effectwhereby the interactive effect of authentic leadership and temptation on individuals' guilt appraisal was mediated through the nature of the ethical decision. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Citation: 
The Leadership Quarterly 25 (2014) 581 – 594

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