The Influence of Ethical Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-709-5_109How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Ethical leadership; organizational citizenship behavior; psychological empowerment; SEM-PLS; Public sector

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between ethical leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), focusing particularly on the mediating role of psychological empowerment. Ethical leadership, which emphasizes fairness, integrity, and concern for employees, is increasingly recognized as a critical driver of positive workplace behaviors. Drawing upon social learning theory, this research argues that leaders who act ethically serve as role models, shaping employees’ attitudes and encouraging prosocial actions. In addition, psychological empowerment theory suggests that when employees feel a sense of meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact, they are more likely to engage in behaviors that go beyond formal job requirements. To examine these propositions, data were gathered from 310 employees working in the Indonesian public sector, a context where leadership credibility and employee engagement are crucial for organizational effectiveness. Structural Equation Modeling using Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings demonstrate that ethical leadership exerts a significant positive effect on OCB both directly and indirectly, with psychological empowerment serving as a meaningful mediator. These results highlight the need for organizations to promote ethical leadership practices while simultaneously fostering empowerment among employees to create a supportive environment that encourages voluntary, citizenship-oriented behaviors essential for long-term organizational success terms.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Faisal Firman
AU  - Mursalim Nohong
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/20
TI  - The Influence of Ethical Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment
BT  - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Accounting, Management, and Economics (10th ICAME 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1567
EP  - 1574
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-709-5_109
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-709-5_109
ID  - Firman2026
ER  -