The present research sought to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the psychosocial processes underlying unethical behaviors in organizational context. Specifically, the relationship between ethical leadership, which has been broader established as a contextual factor that promotes organizational ethics, and followers’ disruptive behavior was analyzed. This analysis was done within the scope of a conceptual model that proposes that this type of positive leadership can have a paradoxical and counter-intuitive effect on followers’ behavior, increasing their adherence to unethical pro-leader behavior. This paradoxical effect is proposed to result from an increased perceived value congruence between follower and leader, that fosters stronger trust in the leader, which subsequently contributes to followers’ unethical pro-leader behavior. A cross sectional-survey design study was used to collect data from a sample of followers. The data were drawn from a sampling frame of 299 employees from different sectors. The results revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between ethical leadership and followers’ unethical pro-leader behaviors, which are both directly connected and indirectly linked through the two proposed psychosocial mechanisms. The findings thus indicate that ethical leadership reinforces followers’ value congruence with the leader, thereby increasing their trust in the leader, and, subsequently, promoting more unethical pro-leader behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in terms of a counterintuitive perspective about the (negative) impact of ethical leadership on individual behavior and proposes the examination of psychological processes that could decrease or subvert the effect of social influence in organizational contexts.

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Ethical leadership,unethical pro-leader behavior,value congruence,trust in the leader

• Psychology - Social Sciences
• Economics and Business - Social Sciences