The Effect Of Leader Unethical Behavior On Leader Status:Chain Mediating Effect And Its Boundary

Scholars have widely concerned unethical behavior due to its negative impact on the organization.Previous studies have proved that unethical behavior will lead to reduced organizational commitment and increased turnover intention of employees,and even more seriously,will damage the reputation of the organization,reduce team performance,and affect the long-term development of enterprises.In the past,scholars mostly studied the negative impact of unethical behavior of leaders on employees and organizations based on social cognition theory,social learning theory and equity perspective,and seldom studied the impact of unethical behavior of leaders on leaders themselves based on the perspective of responsibility.After the occurrence of immoral behavior,leaders do not remain indifferent and react negatively,but make up for the damage caused by their own behavior mistakes in some ways to minimize the negative reaction of all sectors of society.Therefore,based on the moral theory,this study explores the influence of immoral behaviors of leaders on leadership status,and the mediating role of subordinates’ perception of leadership responsibility orientation and praise,as well as the moderating role of economic compensation.In this study,three experiments in different situations were conducted to test the research hypothesis.First,in study 1,a sample of students（N=94）was used to test the main effect and the chain mediating effect.The results showed that unethical behavior of leaders negatively affected leadership status,and subordinates’ perception and praise of leaders’ responsibility orientation played a chain mediating role in the above negative relationship.In study 2,a sample of employees（N=200）was used to test the main effect and the chain mediation effect again through the situational experiment of leadership encroachments on employees’ work achievements,and the same results were found in study 1.In study 3,a sample of employees（N=200）was used to test the moderating effect of economic compensation and the whole model through the scenario experiment of leaders’ encroachment on employees’ achievements.The results showed that economic compensation weakened the negative impact of leaders’ unethical behavior.The negative relationship between immoral behavior of leaders and subordinates’ perception of leadership responsibility orientation is weaker,and the negative impact of immoral behavior of leaders on status is weaker through subordinates’ perception of leadership responsibility orientation and praise.This research has certain theoretical and practical significance.In theory,this study verifies the negative relationship between immoral behavior and status,enriching the intermediate mechanism of the influence of immoral behavior on status,discusses the boundary conditions of the relationship between immoral behavior and status,and provides empirical support for moral morality theory.In practice,it is suggested that enterprise leaders should give priority to the interests of the organization in their daily work,not violate the organizational norms for personal interests,stick to the moral norms,and strictly restrict their own behavior,so as to win the respect of employees and enhance their status.