Individual Moral Ideologies and Dyadic Ethical Leadership Research

Individual morality is the essence of business, organizational and managerial ethics research. The purpose of this paper is to point out the significance and potential of individual moral ideologies for ethical leadership research. Hence, the aim of this paper is to identify theoretical and empirical links between individuals’ moral ideologies and leadership behavior conduct and perception. Theoretical findings suggest that moral ideologies influence both leader’s moral action as well as its judgment by the follower. The fact that Ethics Position Theory has traditionally researched intrapersonal mental processes, however, yields limitations related to predicting (dyadic) ethical leadership behavior. While this paper points out a research gap, the author emphasizes managerial practitioners and scholars to pay more attention to moral diversity and (mis)judgment of ethical leadership at the workplace. This paper contributes to the field of moral and ethical leadership research with implications for corporate ethics, social responsibility and sustainability.