Leader honesty/humility and subordinate organizational citizenship behavior: a case of too-much-of-a-good-thing?

Ete, Z; Sosik, J; Cheong, M; Chun, J.U; Zhu, W; Arenas, F.J; Scherer, J.A

Abstract

Purpose – On the basis of theories of social cognition and moral identity and the meta-theoretical principle of “too-much-of-a-good-thing,” the purpose of this study is to develop and test a model that explains when and why leader honesty/humility promotes subordinate organizational citizenship behavior directed at individuals (OCBI) as mediated through subordinate moral identity centrality. Design/methodology/approach – In this field study, with online surveys, multisource data were collected from 218 United States Air Force officers and their subordinates. Data were analyzed with MEDCURVE SPSS macro tools. Findings – A nonlinear indirect effect of leader honesty/humility on subordinate OCBI through subordinate moral identity centrality was found. This conditional indirect effect occurred through a curvilinear (inverted Ushape) relationship between leader honesty/humility and subordinate moral identity centrality and a positive linear relationship between subordinate moral identity centrality and OCBI. Research limitations/implications – Cross-sectional data were collected. Future research might replicate findings using experimental and longitudinal designs. Practical implications – Recruiting and selecting leaders who possess a moderate level of honesty/humility may serve as the first step in producing prosocial behavior during social interactions with subordinates. Originality/value – This study extends the literature on character and leadership by applying the too-muchof-a-good-thing principle to empirically test the complex nature of the relationship between.

Citation

Ete, Z., Sosik, J., Cheong, M., Chun, J., Zhu, W., Arenas, F., & Scherer, J. (2020). Leader honesty/humility and subordinate organizational citizenship behavior: a case of too-much-of-a-good-thing?. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 35(5), 391-404. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmp-10-2019-0557

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 2, 2020
• Online Publication Date: May 29, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020
• Deposit Date: Jun 12, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 12, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Managerial Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0268-3946
• Publisher: Emerald
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 391-404
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/jmp-10-2019-0557
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1268881