Resolute or Resigned: Follower Reactions to Leader-Follower Ethical Disagreement
thesis
posted on 2025-05-01, 00:00authored byAlexander Lyle Effinger
Existing research on ethical conflict has demonstrated numerous negative outcomes that employees experience when they face dissensus with other organizational members regarding matters of right and wrong. My research shifts the focus from the consequences employees face following ethical conflict to the processes through which employees cope during ethical conflict. I zoom in on the process of leader–follower ethical conflict to better understand the intrapersonal and interpersonal processes that followers engage to overcome perceptions of ethical disagreement. Across two studies which incorporate a critical incident technique and an experimental vignette method, I investigate the extent to which leader–follower ethical disagreement motivates employee moral agency by inducing moral stress. Further, I investigate individual differences that influence more constructive, versus dysfunctional responses. The results suggest that leader–follower ethical disagreement can be a stressful experience for individuals which motivates ethical voice and job withdrawal. Further, individuals higher in moral self-efficacy are less likely to withdraw in the face of such conflict. By illuminating the processes that unfold during leader–follower ethical conflict, my research advances our understanding of not only how such conflict motivates employee responses but also how organizations may empower employees to facilitate more constructive responses.
History
Advisor
Robert C. Liden
Department
Managerial Studies
Degree Grantor
University of Illinois Chicago
Degree Level
Doctoral
Degree name
PhD, Doctor of Philosophy
Committee Member
Sandra J. Wayne
John W. Lynch
Zhenyu Yuan
G. James Lemoine