2067: Do Bad Apples Inspire Good Soldiers? The Effects of Leader UPB on Followers’ Citizenship Behavior (17648)

Building on construal-level and social exchange theories, we develop and test a dual-level model that explains how and why observing leader unethical pro-organizational behavior can trigger or hinder followers’ citizenship behavior. We tested our model in two studies, including a multi-wave, multi-source filed study (Study 1), a time-lagged interval-based experience sampling methodology and two follow-up between-person survey (Study 2). Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that followers’ response to leader unethical pro-organizational behavior is fluid and subject to the level of conceptualization at which it is considered. Specifically, the result shown that, at between-person level, when employees witnessed their leader engaging in unethical pro-organizational behavior, they experienced heightened organizational obiligation and, subsequently showed more citizenship behaviors. However, at the within-person level, observing leaders’ unethical pro-organizational behavior was negatively related to followers’ organizational obiligation, which reduced their citizenship behaviors. Moreover, these effects depended on leaders’ organizational embodiment. Specifically, as leaders’ organizational embodiment increased, the impact of leader unethical pro-organizational behavior on organizational obiligation (including it’s between-person effect and within-person effect) was strengthened. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this new, comprehensive perspective on the path from leader unethical pro-organizational behavior to follower citizenship behaviors both from within-person and between-person perspectives.

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