13719

Ethical leadership, Moral Disengagement, and Unethical

Pro-organizational Behavior: A Multilevel Moderated
Mediation Analysis
A series of business scandals raised public concerns and prompted researchers
and practitioners to re-advocate the importance of ethical leadership (Brown, Trevio,
& Harrison, 2005). Ethical leadership is a value-driven leadership which can affect
subordinates self-concept and beliefs through role models and the sharing of moral
standards, a process which can result in desirable behavior among subordinates
(Brown et al., 2005; Den Hartog & Belschak, 2012; Liu, Lam, & Loi, 2012). Despite
understanding the effects, Barling and colleagues (2010) argued that much is known
about the outcomes of leadership, but less is known about how and why these effects
occur (p.206). Thus, it is important to explore the effects of the underlying processes
of ethical leadership on employee behaviors.
The present study has two main purposes. First, although many empirical studies
have shown that ethical leaders can reduce followers unethical or negative work
behaviors that are harmful to organizations, such as workplace deviance (e.g., Mayer,
Kuenzi, Greenbaum, Bardes, & Salvador, 2009; Avey, Palanski, & Walumbwa, 2011;
Den Hartog & Belschak, 2012; Neves & Story, in press), counterproductive behavior
1

(CWB; e.g., Den Hartog & Belschak, 2012), and withdrawal behavior (e.g., Zhang,
Walumbwa, Aryee, & Chen, 2013), scarce research in the literature has examined the
issue of why ethical leadership can work to prevent subordinates unethical
pro-organizational behavior (UPB) (though an uncommon finding from Miao,
Newman, Yu, & Xu 2013 study showed that there is a curvilinear relationship
between ethical leadership and employee UPB). Umphress and Bingham (2011)
defined UPB as actions that are intended to promote the effective functioning of the
organization or its members and violate core societal values, mores, laws, or standards
of proper conduct (p.622). Scholars have argued that, in general, ethical leadership
can reduce unethical behavior in employees because of the social learning processes.
For example, Brown and colleagues (2005) suggested that subordinates are likely to
avoid unethical behaviors by vicariously emulating the proper behaviors and values of
their ethical leaders. Likewise, Liu and colleagues (2012) pointed out that ethical
leaders help their subordinates to view their jobs as more meaningful and to
strengthen the development of self-regulation, which in turn can reduce the
subordinates deviance behaviors.
Trevio and colleagues (2014) suggested that moral disengagement is a
psychological mechanism which can explain why employees engage in unethical acts.
They defined the mechanism as a process of neutralization techniques in which
2

self-censure and moral emotions (e.g., shame and guilt) are disengaged from
behaviors that violate moral standards (p.638-649). To date, the research concerning
moral disengagement has remained limited in the field of organizational study (Beu &
Buckley, 2004; Detert, Trevio, & Sweitzer, 2008; Moore, Detert, Trevio, Baker, &
Mayer, 2012), and empirical research that links ethical leadership to employee UPB
through moral disengagement has not yet been conducted sufficiently (see Liu et al.,
2012; Zhang et al., 2013). The first purpose of the present study is to investigate the
mediating role of moral disengagement on the relationship between ethical leadership
and employee UPB.
Second, as business ethics has become a major concern in society, business
leaders nowadays not only take ethical responsibilities in the face of external social
pressure (Trevio, Hartman, & Brown, 2000; Brown et al., 2005) but also promote
organizational ethical image and reputation for their own personal benefit (Den
Hartog & Belschak, 2012). The relationship between the Machiavellianism (Mach)1
of leaders and their ethical leadership has attracted researchers attention. Wilson and
colleagues (1996) defined Machiavellianism as a strategy of social conduct that
involves manipulating others for personal gain, often against the others self-interest
1

Following Dahling and colleagues (2009), this present study view Mach as the abbreviation of

Machiavellianism and Machs as the abbreviation of Machiavellians (for detail see Dehling et al., 2009,
p.221)
3

(p.295). Machiavellians (Machs) are those who focus highly on self-interests and
skillfully employ coercion, manipulative strategy, and impression management tactics
for the sake of personal extrinsic goals (Christie & Geis, 1970; Becker & OHair,
2007; Dahling, Whitaker, & Levy, 2009; Den Hartog & Belschak, 2012). Drawing on
the identity perspective, recent studies showed that Machs may not always enact the
role and express outward behaviors that are in line with their true beliefs and identities
(Wilson, Near, & Miller, 1996; Hawley, 2003). For example, Becker and OHair
(2007, p.248) found that though Machs are not prosocial in nature, they can perform
outward organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) based on their own impression
management motives (e.g., maintaining a positive image or enhancing self-promotion).
In the present study, we argue that Machs will take ethical practices and display
ethical behaviors if they view these actions as a necessary means to improve
self-image and reputation (see Dan Hartog & Belschak, 2012). High Mach leaders
may be more motivated to make their ethical leadership effective in reducing
employee unethical behavior.

Therefore, the second purpose of this study is to

examine the moderation influence of leaders Machiavellianism on the relationship

between their ethical leadership and subordinates moral disengagement and UPB.

Theory and hypotheses development

Ethical leadership
4

Ethical leadership is the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct

through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such
conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and
decision-making (Brown et al., 2005, p.120). Ethical leadership is a form of
value-driven leadership style that concerns and promotes normally appropriate
conduct in subordinates (Brown et al., 2005; Brown & Mitchell, 2010). Ethical
leaders set ethical standards for and communicate the importance of ethics to their
subordinates (Brown et al., 2005; Brown & Trevio, 2006), and they shape their
subordinates cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors toward the meaning of ethics
(Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993; Den Hartog & Belschak, 2012) by serving as role
models of ethical conduct while rewarding appropriate behaviors and impeding
unethical behaviors of subordinates (Brown et al., 2005; Brown & Trevio, 2006).
Social learning theory (Bandura, 1986) has been used as one of the explanations for
the influence of ethical leadership on subordinates behaviors (Brown et al., 2005;
Miao et al, 2013; Zhang et al., 2013). According to the social learning theory,
individuals learn what to do and what not to do through vicarious learning (Bandura,
1986), a process referring to learning by observing the behaviors of others (i.e., peers
and supervisors) and the positive or negative consequences resulted from the observed
behaviors (Bandura, 1986; Brown et al., 2005; Liu et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2013). As
5

employees learn to behave in an ethical manner, they will commit less unethical acts
while performing their jobs. In the following section, we will elaborate on why ethical
leadership can work to reduce employees UPB.
Ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior
Over the recent years, a number of researchers have verified the negative
relationship between ethical leadership and employees unethical behavior (Mayer et
al., 2009, 2010; Stouten et al., 2010; Miao et al., 2013). For instance, Mayer and
colleagues (2009, 2010) found that ethical leadership is negatively related to
group-level deviance behavior and the misconduct of subordinates through the
trickle-down effect of ethical leadership and the formation of ethical organizational
climate. Stouten and colleagues (2010) found a negative relationship between ethical
leadership and workplace bullying. Den Hartog and Belschak (2012) showed that
ethical leadership has a negative effect on employee CWB through the mediation of
employees social connection at their work. In the above trend of research, however,
few studies have examined the relationship between ethical leadership and employees
UPB (Miao et al., 2013; Umphress & Bingman, 2011; Umphress et al., 2010).
In this study, we argue that subordinates under higher levels of ethical leadership
will be less likely to engage in UPB for the following reasons. First, according to
Bono and Judge (2003), individuals will not work for goals which are not in line with
6

their own personal interests and values. Since ethical leaders serve as role models for
guarding ethical values for their subordinates, create the normative standards at work,
and use reward and punishment to keep their subordinates accountable for their
ethical performance, the subordinates will be more likely to ensure that their
behaviors are consistent with ethical standards and be less likely to engage in
unethical behaviors that conform to organizational expectations but are inconsistent
with the moral standards ascertained by their leaders (e.g., falsifying documents and
lying to stakeholders; Miao et al., 2013).
Second, according to the identity theory, leaders are organizational agents who
use power to transform employees values and cognitions in general (van
Knippenberg, van Knippenberg, De Cremer, & Hogg, 2004; Trevio & Brown, 2005).
When subordinates identify with leaders who are ethical, the subordinates will make
their values, attitudes, and self-concept consistent with the moral image of the leaders,
which in turn can prevent the subordinates from committing UPB (Brown et al., 2005;
Walumbwa et al., 2011; Miao et al., 2013). Thus, we hypothesize that ethical
leadership can prevent subordinates UPB.
Hypothesis 1. Ethical leadership is negatively related to employee UPB.
Ethical leadership and moral disengagement
Bandura (1999) stated that moral disengagement as the cognitive processes
7

consists of eight inter-related mechanisms, whereby moral self-sanctions are

selectively disengaged from inhumane conduct (p.193). These eight mechanisms can
be further categorized into three broad dimensions of moral disengagement. First,
individuals may utilize a set of cognitive re-construal processes (e.g., moral
justification, euphemistic labeling, and advantageous comparison) to cognitively
distort the outcomes of unethical conducts so that they can make these conducts seem
less harmful and unethical (Bandura, 1986, 1991, 1999; Bandura, Barbaranelli,
Caprara, & Pastorelli, 1996). For instance, subordinates may feel that utilizing
organizational resources for personal purpose is not unethical because coworkers may
do the same thing, which in reality eventually incurs a high cost to the organization.
Second, individuals may distort and minimize the role played by moral agent in their
unethical conducts via displacement of responsibility and diffusion of responsibility
(Bandura, 1991, 1999; Bandura et al., 1996). For instance, subordinates view hiding
information about a defective product and giving bribery as an act of obedience to
their supervisors or of conformity to their work groups. Third, dehumanization,
distortion of consequences, and the attribution of blame are also several moral
disengagement practices which enable individuals to reduce identification with other
people (e.g., customers or coworkers), or even to view imposing unethical treatment
on the innocents as rightly deserved outcomes (Bandura, 1991, 1999; Bandura et al.,
8

1996). For example, employees may scapegoat all faults of the work unit on
underperforming coworkers because they feel that these coworkers deserve to be
punished for their low level of job performance.
To date, there has been a lack of empirical research examining the relationship of
ethical leadership and employee moral disengagement. Liu and colleagues (2012)
qualitative study is the only one that provided some preliminary evidence for
explaining why ethical leadership can weaken subordinates propensity for moral
disengagement. By using cognitive argument, these researchers suggested that ethical
leaders can shape subordinates cognitions of moral standards via practices such as
establishing ethical codes, communicating ethical expectations with subordinates,
being role models of ethical conduct, and using reward and punishment systems for
enforcing ethical requirements. As a consequence of ethical leaders moral
management, their subordinates will become accountable for right or wrong behaviors
through their moral cognitions. They will be less likely to justify their unethical
conducts, shift responsibilities for their wrong doing on others, dehumanize the
victims of their unethical treatment, and distort the consequences of their unethical
conduct. In other words, their propensity for moral disengagement will be reduced,
and they will become more actively involved in taking moral responsibility (Brown et
al., 2005; Brown & Trevio, 2006; Detert et al., 2007). We argue that employees
9

under an ethical leadership will be less likely to disregard the link between their moral
cognitions and the manifestation of ethicality in their conduct. We hypothesize that:
Hypothesis 2. Ethical leadership is negatively related to employees propensity for
moral disengagement.

The Mediation of moral disengagement on the ethical leadership-UPB relationship

Scholars in the literature have raised concerns about the influence of moral
disengagement on employee unethical behavior (Detert et al., 2008; Duffy, Scott,
Shaw, Tepper, & Aquino, 2012; Moore et al., 2012; Johnson and Buckley, in press).
For example, Christian and Ellis (in press) found that employees with a higher level
of moral disengagement are more likely to engage in workplace deviance in situations
with high uncertainty and in high pressure environments. In such situations or
environments, employees identification with their organization and their intent to
reciprocate good treatment from their organization may outweigh their moral
conscience and cause them to choose to act unethically in their decision makings.
Examples of moral disengagement leading to UPB include showing a lack of
self-censure from distorting negative outcomes (e.g., false accounting can benefit the
organization or even boost the stock values) and attributing behaviors to their
supervisors dictates (e.g., I dont really want to conceal information about product
defect and pollution but my supervisor lets me do so) (Moore, 2008; Umphress et al.,
10

2010; Umphress & Bingham, 2011; Moore et al., 2012). As employees propensity for
moral disengagement can be reduced by ethical leadership (Grojean et al., 2004;
Brown et al., 2005), their intent for UPB will likely be attenuated because of the
reduction in their moral disengagement. Therefore, we propose the following
hypothesis:
Hypothesis 3. The influence of ethical leadership on employee UPB is mediated by
employees propensity for moral disengagement.
The

moderation

of

Machiavellianism

on

the

ethical

leadership-moral

disengagement-UPB relationship
Wilson and colleagues (1996) defined Machiavellianism as a strategy of social
conduct that involves manipulating others for personal gain, often against the others
self-interest (p.295). According to Christie and Geis (1970), high Mach people tend
to manipulate and persuade others in order to secure personal gains and power
(Wilson et al., 1996; Dahling et al., 2009; Den Hartog & Belschak, 2012). In recent
studies, researchers have considered Mach as a dark side of leadership and suggested
that ethical leadership is negatively associated with a leaders Mach (e.g., Brown &
Trevio, 2006; Dahling et al., 2009; Brown & Mitchell, 2010; Den Hartog &
Belschak, 2012). However, Bass (1998) argued that leaders have complex
personalities that cannot be considered as completely sage or completely rogue.
11

Hawley (2003) argued that an ethical leaders inner values are not necessarily
consistent with their ethical behaviors as perceived by their subordinates. Jones and
Paulhus (2009) argued that high Machs may forgo short-term benefits to achieve
long-term benefits from maintaining their reputations over time (p. 104). Becker and
OHair (2007) showed that when high Machs regard OCB as a means for maintaining
a positive image and for enhancing their self-interest, they will be more likely to be
prosocial. This includes outwardly engaging in ethical behaviors and acting as role
models for ethical behavior as shown by Den Hartog and Belschak (2012, p. 36-39).
Based on the impression management and the self-serving intentions of high
Mach individuals, we argue that leaders with a higher level of Mach will practice
pro-social ethical management at work to fulfill social expectations and create an
ethical image for the purpose of achieving personal or organizational gain (Hawley,
2003). Given subordinates awareness of the ethicality of leadership, high Mach
leaders may use manipulative tactics (Becker & OHair, 2007) to make their
subordinates behave in accordance with strict ethical codes and standards in order to
create a positive image and ethical reputation in the eyes of others (Christie & Geis,
1970, p.312; Ramanaiah, Byravan, & Detwiler, 1994; Wilson et al., 1996).
Overall, we argue that because high Mach leaders view ethical management as a
means to help them reach personal goals and attain organizational benefit, they will
12

likely foster and coerce their subordinates into enhancing moral self-regulation and
being accountable for the moral responsibilities in behaviors, making them less
morally disengaged. Thus, the Mach of the leaders can actually reinforce the negative
influence of ethical leadership on employees propensity for moral disengagement. As
the influence is strengthened, the mediation effect of moral disengagement on the
ethical leadership-UPB relationship will also become greater. Thus, we propose the
following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 4. A leaders Machiavellianism moderates the effect of ethical leadership
on employees propensity for moral disengagement such that the effect is stronger
when the leader has a higher level of Machiavellianism.
Hypothesis 5. The mediation of the employees propensity for moral disengagement
on the ethical leadership-employee UPB relationship is moderated by the leaders
Machiavellianism such that the mediation effect is stronger when Machiavellianism is
higher.

INSERT FIGURE1 ABOUT HERE

Method
Sample and procedure
13

To enhance the generalizability of research findings, the present study used a

large sample of respondents from a variety of organizations. We collected data from
56 different for-profit organizations and three non-profit organizations, in which 160
supervisors

and

800

full-time

employees

responded

to

three-phase,

supervisor-subordinate dyadic questionnaire survey.

To avoid common method variance (CMV), the present study followed the
procedural and statistical remedies of Podsakoff and colleagues (2003, 2012). The
procedures of separate data sources and time lags for collecting measures of different
variables were employed. For the supervisor-rating questionnaire, 160 supervisors
were requested to rate their own Mach personality and demographic characteristics in
the phase-1 survey. In order to aggregate individual-level data to the workgroup level,
we needed to obtain a sufficient number of qualified samples. By doing so, we asked
these supervisors to invite four or more subordinates to participate in this study
(Richardson & Vandenberg, 2005; Mayer et al., 2009). Each questionnaire in the same
supervisor-subordinates combination was assigned the same code number for
matching purposes. Three weeks after the phase-1 survey, eight-hundred participating
employees were asked to provide an assessment of the ethical leadership of their
leaders, their own propensity for moral disengagement, and their demographics. Six
weeks later, those who had completed the phase-2 survey were asked to evaluate the
14

extent to which they had engaged in UPB previously. Hermans one-factor test
(Podsakoff et al., 2003) was adopted as a statistical remedy for CMV.
A total of 124 and 665 completed questionnaires were received from direct
supervisors and their subordinates in the phase-1 and phase-2 surveys respectively,
resulting in response rates of 77.5 % and 83.1%. Of the 665 useful questionnaires, 618
were returned in the phase-3 survey due to voluntary turnover. This yielded a response
rate of 92.9%. To increase the representativeness of the data structure and aggregate
measurement, we excluded missing data, including respondents who had worked less
than three months and workgroups with fewer than three employees (Hofmann, 1997).
Afterwards, the sample consisted of 595 full-time employees from 124 workgroups.
The valid response rates were 77.5 % for supervisors and 74.4 % for employees. Of
the 595 full-time employees, 40.3% were men and 59.7% were women; the highest
level of education attained consisted of 8.1% high school or below, 12.3% junior
college, 61.2% university, 18.3% MA, and 0.2% PhD. The age of respondents (i.e.,
employees) ranged from 20 to 65 years old, with an average of 32.55 years (SD =
7.59). The average dyadic tenure of the respondents (i.e., employees) with their
immediate supervisors was 3.03 years (SD = 3.20).
Measures
Except for the control and demographic variables, the 7-point Likert scale (1 =
15

strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree) was used on all other variables to ask
respondents to rate the items of the variables on how strongly they agree or disagree
with the statements in the items. Since the measurement scales used were originally
developed in the English, a translation and back-translation procedure (Brislin,
Lonner, & Thorndike, 1973) was used to ensure both the semantic accuracy and the
content validity of the Chinese translation of the scales (Schwab, 2005).
Ethical leadership
Ethical leadership was assessed using the multidimensional 38-item Ethical
Leadership at Work questionnaire (ELW) developed by Kalshoven and colleagues
(2011). It includes seven subscales, consisting of people orientation, fairness, power
sharing, concern for sustainability, ethical guidance, role clarification, and integrity. A
sample item is: My supervisor is genuinely concerned about my personal
development. The Cronbachs alpha of the questionnaire was .97. To acquire the
workgroup-level ethical leadership, the perceived ethical leadership was aggregated
into the group level for each workgroup (Chan, 1998).
Moral disengagement
This variable was measured with a short version of the eight item scale
developed by Moore and colleagues (2012) to measure the propensity for moral
disengagement. An example item is: Taking something without the owners
16

permission is okay as long as youre just borrowing it. In addition, Bandura and
colleagues (1996) suggested that moral disengagement should be expected to measure
as a single higher-order construct. Thus, we followed the suggestion of Detert and
colleagues (2008) and took the average score of the eight items as a measure of the
overall construct of moral disengagement. Its Cronbachs alpha was .79.

Unethical pro-organizational behavior

We took the 6-item scale developed by Umphress and colleagues (2010) to
assess the extent to which subordinates intend to engage in UPB. An example item is:
If it would help my organization, I would misrepresent the truth to make my
organization look good. Its Cronbachs alpha was .89.

Leaders Machiavellianism (Mach)

Dahling and colleagues (2009) developed a 16-item Machiavellian Personality
Scale (MPS) which was validated against a robust combination of self-report
measures, performance tests, and supervisor ratings (p. 246). We used this scale to
ask supervisors to rate their own characteristics of Mach. A sample item from the
scale is: I like to give the orders in interpersonal situations. The Cronbachs alpha
was .89.
Control variables
We took gender (1 = male, 2 = female), age, education, and dyadic tenure (in
17

years) measured at Time 2 as the individual-level control variables, which might

relate to moral disengagement (Detert et al., 2008) and UPB (Miao et al., 2013).
Analysis
We conducted a series of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM ; Hofmann, 1997;
Hofmann & Gavin, 1998; Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) to test the cross-level mediation
and moderation effects both at the individual level (i.e., gender, age, education, dyadic
tenure, moral disengagement, and UPB) and at the workgroup level (i.e., ethical
leadership and leaders Mach) based on the following considerations. First, we
intended to explore whether the workgroup-level ethical leadership affected the
subordinates UPB. Since subordinates working in the same work unit may share a
consensus perception of leadership of their superior (Yammarino & Bass, 1990;
Nielsen & Daniels, 2012), we treated ethical leadership as a group-level phenomenon.
To verify the appropriateness of the HLM analysis, we used a null model (e.g., moral
disengagement or UPB was a dependent variable and no independent variables were
considered) to determine whether the individual-level variables of UPB and moral
disengagement had significant proportions of variance that were derived from
between-workgroup differences. The results indicated that the between-workgroup
= .28, Chi-square = 287.14, df = 123, p

residual variance of intercept in UPB (

< .001) and moral disengagement (

= .07, Chi-square = 183.54, df = 123, p < .001)

18

was significant. Also, ICC (1) for UPB was .22, which showed that 22% of the
variance in UPB existed between work groups, whereas 78% of the variance existed
within work groups. On the other hand, ICC (1) for moral disengagement was .10,
which provided evidence of significant between-work unit variance. Based on the
above findings, it was justifiable for us to use HLM as a suitable analytic technique in
this study (Snijders & Bosker, 1999).
To test a cross-level mediation effect (i.e., Hypotheses 3), we used the
procedures of Baron and Kenny (1986), which consisted of three steps. First, we
examined whether ethical leadership (the group-level independent variable) was
related to UPB (the individual-level dependent variable). Second, we examined
whether ethical leadership was significantly related to moral disengagement (the
individual-level mediator) and whether moral disengagement was related to UPB.
Finally, we evaluated the correlation between ethical leadership and UPB while
controlling for moral disengagement. If the correlation was attenuated, we then
concluded that there was a significant mediation effect (Mathieu & Taylor, 2007).
Prior to testing the cross-level mediation effect, we followed Hofmann and Gavins
(1998) suggestions to center the measure of ethical leadership on its grand mean in
order to avoid the multicollinearity problem in HLM (Mathieu & Taylor, 2007). In
addition, rather than using the Sobel test to assess the significance of the mediation
19

effect (MacKinnon, Lockwood, & Williams, 2004; Preacher & Hayes, 2008), we used
the bootstrapping procedures of Bauer and colleagues (2006) and Hayes (2013) to test
the significance of the mediation effect of moral disengagement on the ethical
leadership-UPB relationship by calculating Monte Carlo CIs with 5000 bootstrapping
repetitions.
The moderation effect of leaders Mach on the ethical leadership-UPB
relationship in Hypothesis 4 was tested using the interaction term of ethical leadership
and Mach in the cross-level regression. The moderated mediation analysis (Preacher,
Rucker, & Hayes, 2007) was then used to verify the conditional mediation effect
stated in Hypothesis 5, which concerned the influence of leaders Mach on the
mediation of moral disengagement on the ethical leadership-UPB relationship. The
moderated mediation analysis consisted of a two part regression analysis. First, we
obtained the coefficient (i.e., a) of the negative relationship between ethical leadership
and moral disengagement under high and low levels of leaders Mach (i.e., +1/-1 SD
from the mean of leaders Mach). Second, we estimated the coefficient (i.e., b) of the
relationship between moral disengagement and UPB under high and low levels of
Mach while controlling for ethical leadership. We then followed the practice of Aiken
and West (1991, p.16) to calculate the coefficient of the effect of ethical leadership on
UPB through the mediation of moral disengagement (i.e., a x b) under the conditions
20

of high and low levels of Mach.

Last, we used Monte Carlo CIs with 5000

bootstrapping repetitions to test whether the moderated mediation was significant.

Results
Descriptive statistics
The means, standard deviations, zero-order correlations, and reliabilities of all
variables are shown in Table 1.

INSERT TABLE 1 ABOUT HERE

Validity of the measures

To examine the discriminant and convergent validities of all variables, we used a
series of confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Following the fit indices recommended
by Hu and Bentler (1999), we used the maximum likelihood as estimation method and
the various goodness-of-fit indices to determine the measurement model that was a
better fit than others. The cut-off values we used for CFI and NNFI was above .90,
below .08 for SRMR, and below .06 for RMSEA (Bentler, 1990; Hu & Bentler, 1999).
The results of the CFA (see Table 2) indicated that the four-factor model (including
supervisors self-rated Mach at Time-1, subordinate rated ethical leadership and moral
disengagement at Time-2, and subordinates self-rated UPB at Time-3) was a better fit
than the alternative models. The chi-square test also showed that the four-factor model
21

was a significantly better fit than other alternative models (2(269) = 928.41, p < .01;
CFI = .95; NNFI = .95; SRMR = .06; RMSEA = .06). These results indicated that the
four-factor model had attained satisfactory discriminant validity. The results from
Harmans one-factor test (Podsakoff, et al., 2003) also showed that the four-factor
model was a better fit for the data than the one-factor model, suggesting that there was
no significant effect of CMV. The factor loadings of all variables in the hypotheses
were above .50, which implied that the measurement items of each variable achieved
a satisfactory internal consistency.

INSERT TABLE 2 ABOUT HERE

Data Aggregation of ethical leadership

Since we intended to investigate whether group-level ethical leadership
influences the subordinates UPB, particularly when the leader has a higher level of
Mach, we aggregated the measure of ethical leadership into the group-level before
testing the hypotheses (Chan, 1998). To do so, we conducted a series of ANOVA to
justify the existence of a between-group variance of ethical leadership in our sample
and calculated ICC (1) and ICC (2) (Bliese, 2000) of the variable. The results showed
that ICC (1) was .33 (F = 3.40, p < .001), greater than the cutoff standard of .12
22

(Bliese, 2000; Klein et al., 2000). ICC (2) was .71, greater than the desired value
of .70 (Klein et al., 2000). Furthermore, because the data aggregation was based on
the direct consensus model (Chan, 1998), we calculated r

to estimate the inter-rater

agreement within workgroups (James, Demaree, & Wolf, 1984). The results showed
that the mean of r

for the 124 workgroups was .93, greater than the criterion of .70,

indicating a high level of agreement among the group members (James et. al, 1984;
Castro, 2002). Hence, the measure of ethical leadership can be aggregated from the
individual-level to the group-level.
Hypotheses Testing
Model 6 in Table 3 showed that ethical leadership is significantly negatively
related to UPB ( = .505, p < .001), and Model 2 in the table showed that ethical
leadership was significantly negatively related to moral disengagement ( = .342, p
< .001), supporting Hypotheses 1 and 2 respectively.

The results from Model 7

showed that moral disengagement is positively related to UPB ( =.475, p < .001),
and the negative effect of ethical leadership on UPB becomes smaller ( = .350, p
< .001) after accounting for the effect of moral disengagement. These two results
suggested a mediation effect from moral disengagement on the ethical
leadership-UPB relationship. We then used the bootstrapping method (see Preacher &
Selig, 2012) to verify whether the indirect effect of ethical leadership on UPB through
23

moral disengagement was significant. The results indicated that the 95%
bootstrapping CI (LLCI = -.244, ULCI = -.091) did not contain zero, demonstrating
that the indirect effect ( = -.342 x .475 = -.163) was significant. Our hypothesis was
supported.

INSERT TABLE 3 ABOUT HERE

Model 4 (see Table 3) showed that ethical leadership was significantly related to
moral disengagement ( = .350, p < .001) and that the interaction of ethical
leadership and leaders Mach on moral disengagement was significant ( = .227, p
< .001). In line with our expectation, the significant interaction terms showed that
leaders Mach strengthened the negative relationship between ethical leadership and
moral disengagement, a result supporting Hypothesis 4. Consequently, we followed
the procedures of Cohen and Cohen (1983) and of Preacher and colleagues (2006) to
plot the relationship of ethical leadership and moral disengagement based on lower or
higher leaders Mach ( 1 SD below or above the mean of leaders Mach). The results
(see Figure 2) showed that the negative relationship between ethical leadership and
moral disengagement was stronger when leaders Mach was high, whereas the
negative relationship became weaker under a lower level of leaders Mach.
24

INSERT FIGURE2 ABOUT HERE

To verify the moderated mediation hypothesis, we used procedures from

previous studies (i.e., Aiken & West, 1991, p.16; Loi, Chan, & Lam, 2014, p.52) to
calculate the simple slope of the indirect (mediation) effect of moral disengagement at
high vs. low levels of leaders Mach. We found that at high levels, the negative
indirect effect of ethical leadership on UPB through moral disengagement was
significant (the conditional indirect effect = -.547 x .475 = -.260; 95% bootstrapping
CI: LLCI = -.220 and ULCI = -.039). However, at low levels of leaders Mach, the
indirect effect was not significant (the conditional indirect effect = -.153 x .475 =
-.073; 95% bootstrapping CI: LLCI = -.113 and ULCI =.042, ns). Based on these
findings (see Table 4), we concluded that Hypothesis 5 was supported.

INSERT TABLE 4 ABOUT HERE

Discussion
Based on social learning and impression management perspectives, we aimed to
examine how ethical leadership influences subordinates UPB. Recently, Miao and
colleagues (2013) found a curvilinear relationship between ethical leadership and
employees UPB in their empirical study. In contrast, our study found a negative
25

relationship between ethical leadership and employee UPB. It is likely because the
measure of ethical leadership was aggregated into the group-level, which is different
from the individual-level measure in the Miao et al. study.

Under a moderate

individual-level perceived ethical leadership, the stimulated identification with leaders

and intent for reciprocation to the organization in employees may override concern
about the ethicality of their behaviors, and they may be more prone to UPB as a result.
The present study also contributes to the literature by showing that moral
disengagement is a mechanism that explains the influence of ethical leadership on
employee UPB. Ethical leadership can prevent employees UPB because it can reduce
their propensity for moral disengagement.
The results of this study also showed that leaders Mach is negatively correlated
with ethical leadership (r = -.23), a result similar to Brown and Trevios (2006).
According to Den Hartog and Belschak (2012), there is a cognitive inconsistency
between leaders outward behaviors and inner personal values, especially when they
are higher in Mach (p.44). For example, Mach leaders tend to regard their behaviors
as window dressing whereby they can build their reputation and desirable images
for ethical leadership in the eyes of subordinates (Trevio et al., 2000; Den Hartog &
Belschak, 2012). In other words, though Mach leaders may show less ethical
leadership, they may perform ethical management for their own benefits and purposes.
26

The present study found that subordinates are more likely to reduce their propensity
for moral disengagement when their leaders are higher in Mach and consequently the
subordinates intent for UPB will be reduced. This finding contributes to the literature
by demonstrating that ethical leadership performed by Mach leaders is more effective
than low Mach leader in reducing subordinates moral disengagement and curtailing
their UPB.
We failed to find a mediation effect of moral disengagement on the ethical
leadership-UPB relationship when leaders are lower in Mach. Accordingly, low Mach
leaders may not be able to affect employees UPB through the mechanism of moral
disengagement, whereas high Mach leaders can use this mechanism to prevent
employee UPB. Future studies can be conducted to uncover the underlying causes for
this result.

Practical implications
The results of our study provide some managerial implications for business
practitioners. According to our findings, ethical leadership is one essential way for
attenuating subordinates propensity for moral disengagement and restraining them
from involving in UPB. As employees may engage in UPB for the sake of their
organizations, ethical leadership is important for preventing such behaviors. Thus,
managers need to pay more attention to ethical management and provide ethical
27

training to their employees in the workplace.

Our findings show that high Mach leaders are more effective in reducing
employees propensity for moral disengagement through their ethical leadership.
Though high Mach leaders may perform ethical management for promoting their own
reputation and self-image, nevertheless, they can help to prevent employees UPB by
reducing their propensity for moral disengagement. As organizations may provide
training in ethical management to their managers (leaders) for improving
organizational ethical performance, an incentive system which rewards their ethical
leadership may enhance the effectiveness of ethical management in reducing
employee propensity for moral disengagement and their UPB.

Limitation and future research

This research has some inherent limitations. First, since we took the measures of
ethical leadership and moral disengagement at the same point of time (Time-2), we
could not exclude the possibility for reversed direction of causality in these two
variables. Our respondents might give higher ratings of their superiors ethical
leadership while their propensity for moral disengagement is low. Future studies need
to be conducted to rule out this possibility. Second, though we suspected that Mach
leaders practicality in their ethical management and their intention for self-benefit
might cause their ethical leadership to be more effective in reducing employees
28

propensity for moral disengagement, our study did not give evidence to validate these
conjectures. Future studies can be conducted to validate these explanations for the
effectiveness of Mach leaders ethical leadership.

29

References
Aiken, L., and West, S. 1991. Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting
interactions. Newbury Park: Sage.
Avey, J. B., Palanski, M. E., and Walumbwa, F. O. (2011). When leadership goes
unnoticed: The moderating role of follower self-esteem on the relationship
between ethical leadership and follower behavior. Journal of Business Ethics,
98: 573-582.
Blau, P. M. 1964. Exchange and Power in Social Life. New York: Wiley.
Brislin, R. W., Lonner, W. J., and Thorndike, R. M. 1973. Cross-Cultural Research
Methods. New York, NY: Wiley.
Baron, R. M., and Kenny, D. A. 1986. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in
social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical
considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51:1173-1182.
Bandura, A. 1986. Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive
Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G. V., and Pastorelli, C. 1996. Mechanisms of
moral disengagement in exercise of moral agency. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 71: 364-374.
Bandura, A. 1999. Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities.
Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3: 193-209.
Bentler, P. M. 1990. Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological
Bulletin, 107: 238-246.
Bass, B. M. 1998. The ethics of transformational leadership. In Ciulia, J. (Ed.) Ethics,
the heart of leadership, 169-192. Westport: Praeger.
Bliese, P. D. 2000. Within-group agreement, nonindependence, and reliability:
Implications for data aggregation and analysis. In K. J. Klein and S. W. J.
Kozlowski (Eds.), Multilevel Theory, Research, and Methods in Organizations:
30

Foundations, Extensions, and New Directions, 349-381. San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.
Bono, J. E., and Judge, T. A. 2003. Self-concordance at work: Towards understanding
the motivational effects of transformational leaders. Academy of Management
Journal, 46: 554-571.
Beu, D. S., and Buckley, M. R. 2004. This is war: How the politically astute achieve
crimes of obedience through the use of moral disengagement. Leadership
Quarterly, 15: 551-568.
Brown, M. E., Trevio, L. K., and Harrison, D. A. 2005. Ethical leadership: A social
learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational
Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97: 117-134.
Brown, M. E., and Trevio, L. K. 2006. Ethical leadership: A review and future
directions. Leadership Quarterly, 17: 595-616.
Brown, M. E., and Mitchell, M. S. 2010. Ethical and unethical leadership: Exploring
new avenues for future research. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20: 583-616.
Bauer, D. J., Preacher, K. J., and Gil, K. M. 2006. Conceptualizing and testing random
indirect effects and moderated Mediation in multilevel models: New procedures
and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 11: 142-163.
Becker, J. A. H., and OHair, H. D. 2007. Machiavellians motives in organizational
citizenship behavior, Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35:
246-267.
Barling, J., Christie, A., and Hoption, C. 2010. Leadership. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA
Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology,183-240. Washington,
DC: APA books.
Christe, R., and Geis, F. L. 1970. Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic.
Cohen, J., and Cohen, P. 1983. Applied Multiple Regression/correlation Analysis for
the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

31

Chan, D. 1998. Functional relations among constructs in the same content domain at
different levels of analysis: A typology of composition models, Journal of
Applied Psychology, 83:234-246.
Castro, S. L. 2002. Data analytic methods for the analysis of multilevel questions: A
comparison of intraclass correlation coefficients,
( ), hierarchical linear
modeling, within- and between-analysis, and random group resampling.
Leadership Quarterly, 13: 69-93.

Christian, J. S. and Ellis, A. P. J. The crucial role of turnover intentions in

transforming moral disengagement into deviant behavior at work. Journal of
Business Ethics, in press.
Detert, J. R., Trevio, L. K., Burris, E. R., and Andiappan, M. 2007. Managerial
modes of influence and counterproductivity in organization: A longitudinal
business-unit level investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92: 993-1005.
Detert, J. R., Trevio, L. K., and Sweitzer, V. L. 2008. Moral disengagement in ethical
decision making: A study of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 93: 374-391.
Dahling, J. J., Whitaker, B. G., and Levy, P. E. 2009. The development and validation
of a new Machiavellianism scale. Journal of Management, 35: 219-257.
Den Hartog, D. N., and Belschak, F. D. 2012. Work engagement and
Machiavellianism in the ethical leadership process. Journal of Business Ethics,
107: 35-47.
Duffy, M. K., Scott, K. L., Shaw, J. D., Tepper, B. J., and Aquino, K. 2012. A social
context model of envy and social undermining. Academy of Management
Journal, 55: 643-666.
Hofmann, D. A. 1997. An overview of the logic and rationale of hierarchical linear
models. Journal of Management, 23: 723-744.
Hofmann, D. A. and Gavin, M. B. 1998. Centering decisions in hierarchical linear
models: theoretical and methodological implications for organizational science.
Journal of Management, 23: 623-641.
32

Hu, L., and Bentler, P. M. 1999. Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure
analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation
Modeling: Multidisciplinary Journal, 6: 1-55.
Hawley, P. H. 2003. Prosocial and coercive configurations of resource control in early
adolescence: A case for the well adapted Machiavellian. Merrill-Palmer
Quarterly, 49: 279-309.
Hayes, A. F. 2013. Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process
Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach (Eds.). New York, NY: The Guilford
Press.
James, L. R., Demaree, R. G., and Wolf, G. 1984. Estimating within group interrater
reliability with and without response bias. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69:
85-98.
Jones, D. N., and Paulhus, D. L. 2009. Machiavellianism. In M. R. Leary & R. H.
Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior ,102-120.
New York: Guilford.
Johnson, J. F., and Buckley, M. R. Multi-level organizational moral disengagement:
Directions for future investigation. Journal of Business Ethics, in press.
Klein, K. J., Bliese, P. D., Kozlowski, S. W. J., Dansereau, F., Gavin, M. B., Griffin,
M. A., Hofmann, D. A., James, L. R., Yammarino, F. J., and Bligh, M. C. 2000.
Multilevel analytical techniques: Commonalities, differences, and continuing
questions. In K. J. Klein and S. W. J. Kozlowski (Eds.), Multilevel Theory,
Research, and Methods in Organizations: Foundations, Extensions, and New
Directions, 513-553. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kalshoven, K., Den Hartog, D. N., and De Hoogh, A. H. B. 2011. Ethical leadership
at work questionnaire (ELW): Development and validation
multidimensional measure. Leadership Quarterly, 22: 51-69.

of

Liu, Y., Lam, L. W., and Loi, R. 2012. Ethical leadership and workplace deviance:
The role of moral disengagement. Advances in Global Leadership, 7: 37-56.

33

Loi, R., Chan, K. W., and Lam, L. W. 2014. Leader-member exchange, organizational
identification, and job satisfaction: A social identity perspective. Journal of
Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87: 42-61.
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., and Williams, J. 2004. Confidence limits for the
indirect effect: Distribution of the product and resampling methods.
Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39: 99-128.
Mathieu, J. E., and Taylor, S. R. 2007. A framework for testing meso-mediational
relationships in Organizational Behavior. Journal of Organization Behavior, 28:
141-172.
Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M., Greenbaum, R., Bardes, M., and Salvador, R. 2009. How
low does ethical leadership flow? Test of a trickle-down model. Organizational
Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108: 1-13.
Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M., and Greenbaum, R. L. 2010. Examining the link between
ethical leadership and employee misconduct: The mediating role of ethical
climate. Journal of Business Ethics, 95: 7-16.
Moore, C. 2008. Moral disengagement in processes of organizational corruption.
Journal of Business Ethics, 80: 129-139.
Moore, C., Detert, J. R., Trevio, L. K., Baker, V. L., and Mayer, D. M. 2012. Why
employees do bad things: Moral disengagement and unethical organizational
behavior. Personnel Psychology, 65: 1-48.
Miao, Q., Newman, A., Yu, J., and Xu, L. 2013. The relationship between ethical
leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior: Linear or curvilinear
effects? Journal of Business Ethics, 116: 641-653.
Nielsen, K., and Daniels, K. 2012. Does shared and differentiated transformational
leadership predict followers working conditions and well-being? Leadership
Quarterly, 23: 383-397.
Neves, P., and Story, J. Ethical leadership and reputation: Combined indirect effects
on organizational deviance. Journal of Business Ethics, in press.

34

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., and Podsakoff, N. P. 2003. Common
method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and
recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88: 879-903.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., and Podsakoff, N. P. 2012. Sources of method
bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it.
Annual Review of Psychology, 63: 539-569.
Preacher, K. J., Curran, P. J., and Bauer, D. J. 2006. Computational tools for probing
interactions in multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve
analysis. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 31: 437-448.
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., and Hayes, A. F. 2007. Assessing moderated mediation
hypotheses: Theory, methods, and prescription. Multivariate Behavioral
Research, 42: 185-227.
Preacher, K. J., and Hayes, A. F. 2008. Asymptotic and resampling strategies for
assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior
Research Methods, 40: 879891.
Preacher, K. J., and Selig, J. P. 2012. Advantages of Monte Carlo confidence intervals
for indirect effects. Communication Methods and Measures, 6: 77-98.
Raudenbush, S. W. and Bryk, A. S. 2002. Hierarchical linear models: Applications
and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Richardson, H. A., and Vandenberg, R. J. 2005. Integrating managerial perceptions
and transformational leadership into a work-unit level model of employee
involvement. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26: 561-589.
Shamir, B., House, R., and Arthur, M. B. 1993. The motivational effects of
charismatic leadership: A self-concept based theory. Organizational Science, 4:
577-591.
Snijders, T., and Bosker, R. 1999. Multi-level Analysis: An Introduction to Basic and
Advanced Multi-level Modeling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Schwab, D. P. 2005) Research Methods for Organizational Studies (2nd ed.). Mahwah,
35

NJ: Erlbaum.
Stouten, J., Baillien, E., Broeck, A. V. D., Camps, J., Witte, H. D., and Euwema, M.
2010. Discouraging bullying: The role of ethical leadership and its effects on
the work environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 95: 17-27.
Trevio, L. K., Hartman, L. P., and Brown, M. 2000. Moral person and moral
manager: How executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership.
California Management Review, 42: 128-142.
Trevio, L. K., Brown, M. E., and Hartman, L. P. 2003. A qualitative investigation of
perceived executive ethical leadership: Perceptions from inside and outside the
executive suite. Human Relations, 55: 5-37.
Trevio, L. K., den Nieuwenboer, N. A., and Kish-Gephart, J. J. 2014. (Un)Ethical
behavior in organizations. Annual Review of Psychology, 65: 635-660.
Umphress, E. E., Bingham, J. B., and Mitchell, M. S. 2010. Unethical behavior in the
name of the company: The moderating effect of organizational identification
and positive reciprocity beliefs on unethical pro-organizational behavior.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 95: 769-780.
Umphress, E. E., and Bingham, J. B. 2011. When employees do bad things for good
reasons: Examining unethical pro-organizational behaviors. Organization
Science, 22: 621-640.
van Knippenberg, D., van Knippenberg, B., De Cremer, D., and Hogg, M. A. 2004.
Leadership, self, and identity: A review and research agenda. Leadership
Quarterly, 15: 825-856.
Wilson, D. S., Near, D., and Miller, R. R. 1996. A synthesis of evolutionary and
psychological literatures. Psychological Bulletin, 199: 285-299.
Walumbwa, F. O., Mayer, D. M., Wang, P., Wang, H., Workman, K., and Christensen,
A. L. 2011. Linking ethical leadership to employee performance: The rules of
leader-member exchange, self-efficacy, and organizational identification.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115: 204-213.

36

Yammarino, F. J., and Bass, M. B. 1990. Transformational leadership and multiple

levels of analysis. Human Relations, 10: 975-995.
Zhang, X., Walumbwa, F. O., Aryee, S., and Chen, Z. X. 2013. Ethical leadership,
employee citizenship and work withdrawal behaviors: Examining mediating
and moderating processes. Leadership Quarterly, 24:284-297.

37

Figure 1. The hypothesized model.

Table 1. Means (M), standard deviations (SD), reliabilities, and correlations of the variables.
Variable

SD

--

Individual-Level measures (n=595)

1. Gender a
2. Education b

1.60
2.90

.49
.79

--.09*

3.
4.

Age
Dyadic tenure c

32.55
3.03

7.59
3.20

-.17**
-.03

-.17**
-.09*

5.
6.

Moral disengagement (Time-2)

UPB (Time-3)

2.37
2.66

.85
1.11

-.05
-.02

.01
-.01

Workgroup-Level measures (N=124)

1. Ethical leadership (Time-2)

5.14

.62

--

2.

3.23

.87

-.23*

Mach (Time-1)

-.43**
-.13**
.01

(.79)
.39**

(.89)

--.13**
-.02

--

Note. n = 595; N=124. Values in parentheses are the reliability of the variables (Cronbachs alpha). UPB = unethical pro-organizational behavior.
Mach = Machiavellianism. a. dummy coded variable: 1= male, 2 = female. b. 1 = below high school, 2 = college, 3 = university (BA), 4 = MA, 5 = PhD.
c.
Unit: year (Subordinates tenure with his/her supervisor). *p< .05; **p< .01; ***p< .001 (two-tailed t test).
38

Table 2. Results of confirmatory factor analysis

Model
2
df
CFI
NNFI
SRMR RMSEA
2(df)
1. Four-factor model
928.41
269
0.95
0.95
0.06
0.06
-a
2. Three-factor model 1
1679.29 272
0.91
0.90
0.09
0.09
750.88 (3) ***
b
2. Three-factor model 2
2683.78 272
0.88
0.87
0.12
0.12
1755.37 (3) ***
4. Two-factor model c
3434.57 274
0.84
0.83
0.13
0.14
2506.16 (5) ***
d
5. One-factor model
6738.88 275
0.72
0.69
0.16
0.20
5810.47 (6) ***
2
Note. and df denote differences between the three-factor model and other models. CFI = comparative fit
index; NNFI = non-normed fit index; SRMR = standardized root mean square residual; RMSEA = root mean
square error of approximation.
a.
This model combines ethical leadership and Machiavellianism (Mach) into one factor.
b.
This model combines ethical leadership and moral disengagement into one factor.
c.
This model combines ethical leadership, moral disengagement, and Machiavellianism (Mach) into one factor.
d.
This model combines ethical leadership, moral disengagement, Machiavellianism (Mach), and unethical
pro-organizational behavior (UPB) into one factor.
Table 4. Results of the moderated mediation analysis
Level
Mach

Conditional

Bootstrapping 95% CI

indirect effect

Boot LLCI

Boot ULCI

Low (Mean-1 SD)

-.073

-.113

.042

High (Mean+1 SD)

-.260

-.220

-.039

Note. Df = 120; Mach = Machiavellianism. Bootstrapping with a sample size (repetition) of 5000, using Monte
Carlo Bootstrapping method (as see http://www.quantpsy.org/medmc/medmc.htm).

Figure 2. The cross-level moderating effect of Machiavellianism (Mach) on the ethical leadership and-moral
disengagement relationship.
39

Table 3. Results of hierarchical linear model analysis of cross-level mediation of moral disengagement
Moral disengagement (Time-2)
Model 1
Level-1 (n =595)
Intercept
Gender
Age

Education b
Dyadic tenure c

Model 2

Model 3

UPB (Time-3)
Model 4

3.029***

3.209***

3.150***

3.152***

-.097
-.012*

-.126*
-.016***

-.118
-.015**

-.015
-.024*

-.021
-.021*

-.019
-.022*

Model 5

Model 6

2.934***

3.018***

2.716***

-.122
-.014**

-.023
-.005

-.037
-.007

.003
-.001

-.033
-.023*

-.010
-.010

-.010
-.009

-.007
.003

Moral disengagement

.475***

Level-2 (N =124)
Ethical leadership
Mach
Ethical leadership x Mach
Within-group variance
Between-groups variance

Change
Note.
a.
b.

Model 7

-.342***

-.325***
.038

-.350***
.033
-.227***
.644

.644

.648

.647

.061**
.013

.015
.005

.017
.007

.009
.012

.022

.780
.079

.751
.078

.872
.093

.057

-.001

.015

-.505***

.962
.288***
.001
-.009

.966
.189***
-.004

-.350***

.814
.200***
.154

.316
.068

.277
.181

.077

.113

n = 595; N=124. MD = moral disengagement.

dummy variable. 1= male, 2 = female.

1 = high school or below, 2 = junior college, 3 = university (BA), 4 = MA, 5 = PhD.

c.

Unit: year (Subordinates tenure and his/her superiors).

[1]) +
=
(1

*p< .05; **p< .01; ***p< .001.

d.

(1), where ICC(1) is .223 for UPB and .095 for moral disengagement.
40