Leader honesty/humility and subordinate organizational citizenship behavior: a case of too-much-of-a-good-thing?
2020
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.
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