Responsible leadership and employee ethical voice: mediating role of ethical efficacy and moderating role of moral identity

From the perspective of Social cognitive theory (SCT), this study investigates the influence of responsible leadership (RL) on employee ethical voice (EV) and the RL mechanism using the data collected from 298 full-time employees in three phases. Linear regression equations and Bootstrap methods were used for empirical testing. The results show that RL significantly influences employee EV behavior, that ethical efficacy (EE) partially mediates between the two, and that moral identity (MI) moderates the relationship between RL and EE as well as the mediating role of EE. The paper reveals the psychological mechanisms of RL’s EV to employees, as well as important practical implications for organizations to improve employees’ EV behavior.