Ethical Leadership Increases Employees' Prosocial Behavior Towards the Public.

The relationship between ethical leadership and organizational effectiveness has been well-established. Does ethical leadership make the world a better place? This remains an open question. Drawing on social cognitive theory, the present study investigates how and when ethical leadership in the workplace shapes employees' prosocial behavior towards the public (PBP). Specifically, we examine the mediating role of employees' public service motivation and the moderating role of employees' other-interested orientation underlying the relationship between ethical leadership and employees' PBP. Using a longitudinal research design in China (Study 1) and a scenario-based experiment in the UK (Study 2), we found that ethical leadership in work increases employees' PBP, and public service motivation mediates this relationship. Furthermore, other-interested orientation positively moderates the association between ethical leadership and public service motivation. The theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]