Impact of Ethical Leadership on Autonomy and Self-Efficacy in Virtual Work Environments: The Disintegrating Effect of an Egoistic Climate
Ethical management is key to ensuring organizational sustainability, through resources such as autonomy or self-efficacy. However, economic and social uncertainty occasionally leads to adaptive responses that prioritize profit as the primary interest, blurring the integrating role of ethical leaders...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Carlos Santiago-Torner José-Antonio Corral-Marfil Yirsa Jiménez-Pérez Elisenda Tarrats-Pons |
| author_facet | Carlos Santiago-Torner José-Antonio Corral-Marfil Yirsa Jiménez-Pérez Elisenda Tarrats-Pons |
| author_sort | Carlos Santiago-Torner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ethical management is key to ensuring organizational sustainability, through resources such as autonomy or self-efficacy. However, economic and social uncertainty occasionally leads to adaptive responses that prioritize profit as the primary interest, blurring the integrating role of ethical leadership. There are a number of studies that support this reality in a virtual work environment. This sector-specific and cross-sectional research explores how ethical leadership influences self-efficacy among teleworkers, through active commitment to job autonomy, and how an egoistic climate hinders this influence. The analysis is quantitative and correlational, and the sample includes 448 teleworkers. A model of conditional indirect effects, including both a mediation process and a moderation process, is used. The results support that ethical leadership enhances followers’ self-efficacy through a redistribution of responsibilities, which increases the perception of autonomy. However, when ethical leadership coincides with a climate that has opposing interests, such as an egoistic climate, ethical leadership is unable to counteract it, and its effect on self-efficacy gradually diminishes. The benefits of this management style are widely known, but it is crucial to understand under what circumstances it loses efficacy. This research presents a new theoretical model that contributes to the existing literature on ethical leadership. Lastly, organizations that embrace ethical leadership can avoid the emergence of ethical climates disconnected from collective benefit, such as those characterized by selfishness, which hinder prosocial motivation. In this context, ethical leadership fosters the development of high-quality interpersonal relationships with followers, which are considered essential for creating an environment conducive to group learning. Consequently, change management in organizations necessitates the adoption of an ethical system that enhances self-efficacy through moral principles, rather than relying solely on individualistic aspects. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a07484a5e7d240a091e08401fbdc3c59 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-a07484a5e7d240a091e08401fbdc3c592025-01-24T13:22:53ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2025-01-011519510.3390/bs15010095Impact of Ethical Leadership on Autonomy and Self-Efficacy in Virtual Work Environments: The Disintegrating Effect of an Egoistic ClimateCarlos Santiago-Torner0José-Antonio Corral-Marfil1Yirsa Jiménez-Pérez2Elisenda Tarrats-Pons3Department of Economics and Business, Faculty of Business and Communication Studies, University of Vic—Central University of Catalonia, 08500 Vic, SpainDepartment of Economics and Business, Faculty of Business and Communication Studies, University of Vic—Central University of Catalonia, 08500 Vic, SpainDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Translation, Sport and Psychology, University of Vic—Central University of Catalonia, 08500 Vic, SpainDepartment of Economics and Business, Faculty of Business and Communication Studies, University of Vic—Central University of Catalonia, 08500 Vic, SpainEthical management is key to ensuring organizational sustainability, through resources such as autonomy or self-efficacy. However, economic and social uncertainty occasionally leads to adaptive responses that prioritize profit as the primary interest, blurring the integrating role of ethical leadership. There are a number of studies that support this reality in a virtual work environment. This sector-specific and cross-sectional research explores how ethical leadership influences self-efficacy among teleworkers, through active commitment to job autonomy, and how an egoistic climate hinders this influence. The analysis is quantitative and correlational, and the sample includes 448 teleworkers. A model of conditional indirect effects, including both a mediation process and a moderation process, is used. The results support that ethical leadership enhances followers’ self-efficacy through a redistribution of responsibilities, which increases the perception of autonomy. However, when ethical leadership coincides with a climate that has opposing interests, such as an egoistic climate, ethical leadership is unable to counteract it, and its effect on self-efficacy gradually diminishes. The benefits of this management style are widely known, but it is crucial to understand under what circumstances it loses efficacy. This research presents a new theoretical model that contributes to the existing literature on ethical leadership. Lastly, organizations that embrace ethical leadership can avoid the emergence of ethical climates disconnected from collective benefit, such as those characterized by selfishness, which hinder prosocial motivation. In this context, ethical leadership fosters the development of high-quality interpersonal relationships with followers, which are considered essential for creating an environment conducive to group learning. Consequently, change management in organizations necessitates the adoption of an ethical system that enhances self-efficacy through moral principles, rather than relying solely on individualistic aspects.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/1/95ethical leadershipjob autonomyself-efficacyethical climateegoistic climate |
| spellingShingle | Carlos Santiago-Torner José-Antonio Corral-Marfil Yirsa Jiménez-Pérez Elisenda Tarrats-Pons Impact of Ethical Leadership on Autonomy and Self-Efficacy in Virtual Work Environments: The Disintegrating Effect of an Egoistic Climate Behavioral Sciences ethical leadership job autonomy self-efficacy ethical climate egoistic climate |
| title | Impact of Ethical Leadership on Autonomy and Self-Efficacy in Virtual Work Environments: The Disintegrating Effect of an Egoistic Climate |
| title_full | Impact of Ethical Leadership on Autonomy and Self-Efficacy in Virtual Work Environments: The Disintegrating Effect of an Egoistic Climate |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Ethical Leadership on Autonomy and Self-Efficacy in Virtual Work Environments: The Disintegrating Effect of an Egoistic Climate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Ethical Leadership on Autonomy and Self-Efficacy in Virtual Work Environments: The Disintegrating Effect of an Egoistic Climate |
| title_short | Impact of Ethical Leadership on Autonomy and Self-Efficacy in Virtual Work Environments: The Disintegrating Effect of an Egoistic Climate |
| title_sort | impact of ethical leadership on autonomy and self efficacy in virtual work environments the disintegrating effect of an egoistic climate |
| topic | ethical leadership job autonomy self-efficacy ethical climate egoistic climate |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/1/95 |
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