Do moral employees need moral managers to speak up?

• Main Authors: VADERA, Abhijeet K., GAJENDRA, Ravi S., KAMDAR, Dishan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: Ethical leadership; Moral identity; Voice; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/5264
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This paper examines the role of moral identity in motivating employee voice. Moral identity is conceptualized as a two-dimensional construct consisting of a private aspect called internalization and a public aspect called symbolization. We theorize that the internalization dimension of moral identity has a positive effect on employee voice and that the symbolization dimension of moral identity strengthens this relationship. Further, we predict that this interactive effect of internalization and symbolization on employee voice depends on ethical leadership. When ethical leadership is high, employee voice is high regardless of the levels of internalization and symbolization. When ethical leadership is low, the positive relationship between internalization and employee voice is strengthened by symbolization. We test our hypotheses using multi-source data from 274 employees and their supervisors working for a Malaysian firm. Findings support our hypotheses and suggest that moral identity is particularly relevant for employee voice when ethical leadership is low.