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Article

Ethical Leadership and Emotional Exhaustion: The Impact of Moral Intensity and Affective Commitment

by
Carlos Santiago-Torner
1,*,
Mònica González-Carrasco
2 and
Rafael Alberto Miranda Ayala
2
1
Faculty of Business and Communication Studies, Department of Economics and Business, University of Vic—Central University of Catalonia, 08500 Barcelona, Spain
2
Quality of Life Research Institute, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Adm. Sci. 2024, 14(9), 233; https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14090233
Submission received: 13 August 2024 / Revised: 13 September 2024 / Accepted: 18 September 2024 / Published: 23 September 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving Ethical Leadership in Its Cultural Context: New Challenges and Prospects)
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Abstract

:
Purpose: The impact of ethical leadership on employee emotional exhaustion has been extensively analyzed. However, the impact of a leader’s moral intensity on an employee’s emotional state has gone largely unnoticed. This research demonstrates that ethical leadership influences employee emotional exhaustion as a function of the extent of the leader’s moral standards. Furthermore, this research finds that affective commitment acts as a mediating mechanism. Methods: A simple mediation model is used. The sample consists of 448 professionals in six organizations in the Colombian electrical sector who responded to an online questionnaire. The sampling is probabilistic by conglomerates. Findings: This research found a positive relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion, with affective commitment being a mechanism that helps explain this association. Ethical behavior is voluntary in nature and develops in an environment of trust. When an ethical leader surpasses specific moral turning points, a follower’s learning becomes an obligation, preventing affective fluidity. A search for acceptance implies constant consumption of resources that weakens the follower’s capacity for self-regulation until it is exhausted. Moreover, when the leader’s expectations are difficult to meet, affective commitment can lead to significant emotional ambiguity in followers. This context intensifies role stress and increases the likelihood of emotional exhaustion. Lastly, seniority in the workplace promotes emotional exhaustion. Originality: This research challenges conventional wisdom about the mitigating effect of ethical leadership on employees’ emotional states. It broadens the understanding of this management style and fills a crucial knowledge gap by introducing a new perspective. Practical Implications: A balanced and accessible leader can quickly convey a convincing ethical discourse. Emphasizing the vulnerability and importance of human beings can help prevent moral anguish and ethical distances. This, in turn, provides followers with resources to mitigate exhaustion and strengthen commitment.

1. Introduction

The instability caused by COVID-19 has given way to other particularly complex scenarios that require constant change management. This new context has reinforced an interest in organizational factors that influence people. In this sense, employees’ mental health, specifically their emotional exhaustion, has acquired particular relevance in recent years (Lapalme et al. 2023; Santiago-Torner et al. 2023). Emotional exhaustion is a state of permanent resource deficit caused by excessive work demands, which is detrimental to the mental and physical health of employees and to business sustainability itself (Zhou et al. 2020).
Previous studies reveal that emotionally exhausted employees tend toward attitudes that, in addition to hindering performance and moral behavior (Lee et al. 2024), encourage absenteeism and an explicit desire to leave the job (Lee et al. 2021). Multiple investigations have explored the contexts where emotional exhaustion is attenuated. Some authors have reached the conclusion that social support derived from ethical leadership is associated with a supply of valuable resources and measures that prevent emotional deterioration of the follower (Lee et al. 2021; Okpozo et al. 2017; Zheng et al. 2015; Zhou et al. 2020, 2022). Specifically, the conservation of resources (CORs) theory supports this relationship, as it specifies that individuals seek to acquire, protect, and extend their capabilities (Hobfoll et al. 2018).
Leadership, specifically ethical leadership, is a key situational factor in the organization, as it strongly impacts subordinates. Ethical leadership has been defined from different points of view, but it usually describes the extent to which the leader’s behavior conforms to what is normatively appropriate. The ethical leader is capable of transferring specific behaviors to employees that promote their well-being and are essential to face ethical dilemmas (Brown et al. 2005).
Additionally, ethical leadership seeks to persuade employees through an unusual, convincing, and apparently achievable message. Ethical dialogue has an impact on the quality of relationships and the final attitude of employees when accompanied by a proactive effort by the leader to influence based on normative criteria (Zhou et al. 2020). In fact, Lee et al. (2021) go further by considering that the ethical leader has a strong capacity to influence employees emotionally as their interactions grow. These authors propose that the ethical leader is capable of regulating and nurturing the employees’ experience through a constant allocation of resources.
However, the role played by ethical leadership sparks a profound debate. The results of Feng et al. (2018), Miao et al. (2013), Mo et al. (2019), and Stouten et al. (2013) establish that moral information excess can cause an ethical conflict in employees. That is, the employees constantly feel judged, which weakens their motivation to actively participate in organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) or to creatively improve their performance. Consequently, excessive interest in regulating a subordinate’s ethical behavior can trigger controlling behavior on the part of the leader and a process of moral distress that intensifies the employee’s consumption of personal resources (Fu et al. 2020).
In view of these somewhat opposing considerations, this research introduces ethical leadership into the study of emotional exhaustion from a less studied and not necessarily beneficial perspective. Ethical leaders intend to improve employee organizational behavior. In this sense, behavioral changes can represent strong emotional burdens for the employee from a social learning perspective (Fu et al. 2020). This theory suggests that the employee tends to imitate the leader’s behaviors (Brown et al. 2005). However, employees’ excessive focus on ethical issues and their efforts to internalize the values and behaviors of the ethical leader require constant resource consumption (Zhu et al. 2016). Therefore, when employees strive to match the ethical level of the leader, they may experience intense feelings of frustration, and that the ethical pressure exerted by the leader decreases their perception of well-being to the point of reaching emotional exhaustion (Yang 2014). In fact, the excess responsibility implied in wanting to meet the expectations of the ethical leader leads to employee role overload, which can result in anxiety and emotional exhaustion (Junça Silva et al. 2024).
The constructive impact of ethical leaders on employees requires their relationship to be developed in an environment of trust and through reward and punishment mechanisms that the employee can understand (Santiago-Torner 2023a). That is, employees only reproduce freely the ethical leader’s behaviors when they consider the leader a credible and achievable role model (Feng et al. 2018). In fact, learning and modeling processes are associated with the leader’s perspective of positively influencing employee behavior (De Hoogh and Den Hartog 2008). Ethical leaders also encourage two-way communication and relationships based on active listening and benevolence. However, when social learning is related to feelings of obligation, the fit between leader and employee ceases to be supported by shared principles, and ethics becomes a demand for followers (Stouten et al. 2013). Therefore, when the leader’s proposal is strictly ethical, it overwhelms the employees. In this sense, moral approaches, when perceived as unattainable, neutralize the employee’s voluntary behavior and define a scenario of obligatory nature that emotionally overwhelms the employee (Feng et al. 2018; Li et al. 2023).
Under such circumstances, employees may feel their values are being questioned. This perception of inequality and moral rejection felt by employees can trigger attitudes of resignation and passivity (Mo et al. 2019). On the other hand, the perception of moral imbalance experienced by employees may lead them to use a greater number of overcompensation mechanisms, requiring a greater expenditure of emotional energy, and this overexertion may exhaust them (Zhou et al. 2020). Consequently, disproportionate stress would result from extensive effort and active investment of unreturned resources. The perceived moral obligation to adjust to the standards proposed by the ethical leader carries a strong psychological burden to avoid social disapproval (Ekberg et al. 2021). Thus, when the leader encourages employees to react ethically, he/she needs to transmit a message that does not represent an obligation and instead is seen as an effective coping strategy to manage specific stressors (Zheng et al. 2015).
Therefore, excessive moral intensity on the part of the ethical leader may imply that employees hide their emotions, and their motivation is driven toward excessive self-control. Self-control is an effective mechanism for reducing stress when there is balance between effort and emotional demands (Prem et al. 2016; Wojdylo et al. 2017). However, overly high ethical standards force followers to direct their efforts toward an environment of moral rigidity and low self-regulation, which prevents spontaneity (Feng et al. 2018). This alleged emotional suppression, supported by feelings of obligation, leads to emotional exhaustion (Li et al. 2023). In this case, the negative (attenuating) relationship established between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion changes meaning and becomes a positive (inducing) relationship. That is, when the ethical leader relates to followers through treatment perceived as fair, he/she becomes an attenuating force that provides resources to employees to prevent them from becoming emotionally exhausted (Lee et al. 2021). However, when communication between the ethical leader and employees ceases to be coherent, from an ethical perspective, a distancing occurs between the two, which directly impacts the employees’ subjective well-being, turning ethical pressure into an excessive demand that emotionally exhausts them (Fu et al. 2020).
Consequently, this research presents a new perspective of ethical leadership that has yet to be noticed by the scientific community. That is, the ethical leader may intensify employee emotional exhaustion as a function of the perceived moral intensity.
On the other hand, this research proposes that affective commitment is a mediating mechanism that justifies the possible positive relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion.
Affective commitment is a psychosocial state that reflects the individuals’ emotional identification toward their organization (Bouraoui et al. 2019; Liu et al. 2019). In practice, there is an overlap between the affective and moral dimensions of commitment (González and Guillén 2008). Therefore, individuals permanently exposed to ethical demands, and with deep emotional bonds with the organization, are likely to aim all their efforts toward a readjustment of their moral balance regarding the standard proposed by the leader.
Although affective commitment represents a positive attitude with a strong association with well-being, it is reasonable to think that this emotional balance and the psychological safety it entails may have a tipping point (Santiago-Torner et al. 2024). In fact, ethical idealization becomes an unattainable goal (Feng et al. 2018). Excessive emphasis on a leadership model with unconvincing particularities implies a permanent change of feelings that can separate an individual from his/her emotional responses to the point of wanting to evade them (Kong and Jeon 2018).
Surely, affective commitment helps build a feeling of responsibility and task ownership that exceeds the scope of the common role (Bouraoui et al. 2019; Cohen and Caspary 2011; Jiang and Johnson 2018). This enthusiasm may conflict with an excessively moralistic view of the ethical leader that does not consider the balance between resources and demands needed by the follower. This lack of consideration, when able to influence the employees’ moods, forces them to search for new emotional resources and usually leads to an initial weakening and subsequent emotional exhaustion (Matthews and Edmondson 2020). Almost certainly, restoring the status quo is only possible through an ethical leader who is coherent with his/her role, maintains close communications with employees, and balances managerial and personal aspects.
Therefore, this study aims to analyze the influence of ethical leadership on emotional exhaustion, considering the mediating role of affective commitment.

1.1. Ethical Leadership and Emotional Exhaustion

The buffering effect of ethical leadership on emotional exhaustion has been widely explored (Lee et al. 2021; Zhou et al. 2020, 2022). Most authors use the COR theory to justify this relationship. That is, ethical leaders become a source of resources, such as guidance, trust, clarity of functions, or fair treatment, which are central characteristics to reduce stress and the perception of uncertainty (Zheng et al. 2015).
In fact, ethical leaders promote an interpretation of work in accordance with certain normative behaviors whose main objectives are morality and condemnation of unethical behavior (Lukacik and Bourdage 2019; Okpozo et al. 2017). Therefore, ethical leaders strive to maintain a moral balance between them and followers, making sure their moral tendencies do not become an obligation (De Hoogh and Den Hartog 2008). However, a work environment excessively focused on moral behaviors can be perceived as criticism and frustrate employees. In other words, employees consider that leaders who are too rigid in their ethical vision underestimate their moral effort, and this unattainable paradigm causes an emotional rupture between the two (Stouten et al. 2013).
Ethical leaders are characterized by strong willingness when it comes to transferring moral standards, which can be explained through the theory of social learning (Bandura 1985). This conceptual assumption maintains that individuals assimilate certain behaviors when they pay attention to a person who is considered a role model (Santiago-Torner 2023a). However, imitating a behavior may be involuntary in nature. When followers feel questioned, they may decide to restore the moral balance through behavior that goes beyond their convictions. This feeling of obligation becomes a demand that deteriorates their psychological resources. Actually, the desire to neutralize a supposed moral difference involves a series of forced involuntary reactions that require a higher expenditure of emotional energy, and this context of loss leads to exhaustion (Lee and Huang 2019).
Thus, the employees’ inability to act according to internalized and previously accepted values determines a conditional pattern of demand that stresses them and causes a high perception of anguish (Fumis et al. 2017). When ethical leaders prioritize relationships of trust, a marked sense of dependency is established between them and the followers, which mitigates emotional exhaustion. However, trust goes much further because it needs to be nourished with beliefs and interaction (Chughtai et al. 2015). Therefore, the moment the message comes exclusively from the ethical leader, communication becomes one-directional and dysfunctional, thus breaking the previously established trust. This stressful situation often leads to irritability and emotional exhaustion (Li et al. 2023).
A moral scope that is too strict supposes that followers contain their emotional state. Under these circumstances, the relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion is positive, and the effect of the ethical leader is no longer beneficial. Sustained emotional repression, through a feigned behavioral model, leads to emotional exhaustion (Chi and Liang 2013; Jahanzeb and Fatima 2018). Indeed, when followers lose the ability to express what they feel without feeling rejection or obligation, they lose the ability to act in accordance with their values and enter a spiral where acceptance depends on certain restrictions, leading to emotional exhaustion.
Consequently, we propose the following:
Hypothesis 1. 
Ethical leadership is significantly and positively associated with employee emotional exhaustion.

1.2. Mediating Role of Affective Commitment

Social exchange theory is a theoretical model that enables an understanding of employee behavior in the workplace (Kieserling 2019). One of the basic principles of social exchange theory is that relationships evolve toward a series of mutual obligations and commitments that can lead to tangible and intangible exchanges (Cropanzano and Mitchell 2005). According to this theory, the exchange can focus on socio-emotional aspects. Therefore, when individuals feel supported in their workplace, they usually reciprocate through positive work behaviors. In this sense, Brown et al. (2005) indicate the strong association between ethical leadership and social exchange. Ethical leaders are often perceived as approachable, credible, and trustworthy people who can be turned to under any circumstances. Thus, ethical leaders build a positive and balanced environment that strengthens employees’ perceptions of the existence of a social exchange based on two-way feedback (Loi et al. 2015).
Furthermore, social exchange research considers affective commitment an intangible resource that results from the interaction between leaders and followers. That is, it is a consequence of the responsibility and concern shown by leaders for their employees (Brown and Treviño 2014). In this sense, the different facets of the ethical leader (moral administrator and moral person) seek a stable interaction with the employee (Cropanzano and Mitchell 2005; Loi et al. 2015; Santiago-Torner and Muriel-Morales 2023). Employees perceive this interest as an organizational effort to satisfy their socio-emotional needs. In fact, the positive orientation shown by the ethical leader integrates with the global support vision shown by the organization. Therefore, it is expected for ethical leadership to relate positively to the followers’ affective commitment (Asif et al. 2019). The supposed proximity of the ethical leader and the sincere concern he/she transmits to employees and their close circle give rise to genuine and affective responses from employees, which are far from obligatory (Bouraoui et al. 2019).
In fact, ethical leaders transmit behaviors that followers positively assimilate because they are perceived as credible. This favorable context builds a strong identity between followers and the ethical leader’s morals through behavioral models that reinforce the employees’ emotional commitment to the organization (Negiş Işik 2020). Moral identity is a set of moral traits and relationships between them that define the moral personality of an individual (Loi et al. 2015). Therefore, the shared moral approach, in other words, the moral articulation between leader and employee, facilitates an equitable readjustment of the resources used at work. Furthermore, moral adjustment, when coherent with the expectations of leaders and employees, prevents followers’ emotional exhaustion (Yurtkoru and Ebrahimi 2017). In fact, a strong moral identity prevents affective commitment from becoming an argument that encourages unethical behaviors to contribute to organizational goals. That is, moral identity acts as an emotional regulator (Cui et al. 2021).
However, when leaders convey an excessive and unreasonable ethical discourse, instead of reinforcing employee behavior, it can lead to a series of mechanisms and moral excuses, and then to conformity and possibly apathy (Mo et al. 2019). On the other hand, when difficult ethical demands are received by emotionally committed employees, either committed to the organization or to the leader, they can lead to a state of overcompensation that alters the direction of resources, and this unexpected energy expenditure may emotionally exhaust employees (Wojdylo et al. 2017).
When communication and the exchange of perspectives between leaders and followers occur in a climate that reduces psychological safety and pressures employees emotionally, the benefits associated with ethical leadership are reduced, and the positive relationship between the ethical leader and employees’ emotional exhaustion increases instead. Psychological safety defines the degree of perception individuals have about the risk involved in establishing an interpersonal relationship. Therefore, psychological safety multiplies in environments of trust and strong socio-emotional protection (Zhou and Chen 2021).
Therefore, the desire to reproduce a behavior with such high ethical standards forces followers to make excessive efforts and to constantly modify their emotional routines until feeling unprotected and exhausted (Feng et al. 2018). In this sense, although affective commitment relates organizational goals to the individuals’ key values, it ceases to be a resource when the employees’ perspective moves away from their own emotional self-regulation and centers on approximating the leader’s ethical focus. This emotional readjustment contributes to emotional exhaustion because it exceeds self-control and becomes an excessive demand (Kong and Jeon 2018).
COR theory specifies that adhering to specific rules proposed by the organization requires employees to perform excessive emotional work, which exhausts their psychological resources (Matthews and Edmondson 2020). The number of resources invested depends on the intensity of the emotional work, and the desire to not break the rules or to get closer to an ethical ideal involves a series of constant behavioral modifications that lead to emotional exhaustion.
Therefore, we propose the following:
Hypothesis 2. 
Affective commitment mediates the positive relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion.

2. Method

2.1. Participants and Procedure

The research design is quantitative, transversal, non-experimental, and correlational between at least two variables in a defined environment (Sánchez Flores 2019).
The sample consists of 448 employees who work in the Colombian electrical sector. Specifically, in six companies with offices in Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, Manizales, and Pereira. The sampling method is probabilistic, using clusters to include the country’s main cities, with a confidence level of 95%. STATS statistical software was used for this calculation. The response rate was 100%. Regarding gender, 175 (39%) participants were women, and 273 (61%) were men. The average age is 37.18 years (SD = 10.059; range: 20–69). Three-hundred-sixty-four employees have permanent contracts (81.25%), and eighty-four have temporary work contracts (18.75%). Mean seniority is 13.06 years (SD = 8.82; range: 0–38 years). Regarding jobs, 86.6% (308) are analysts, 8.9% (40) hold intermediate jobs, and 4.5% (20) are managers. All, 100%, of those surveyed have university studies, and 57.4% (257) have graduate studies. Some 42% (188) do not have children.
The project was presented to the Colombian electrical sector in mid-2021 at its community action meeting. The six participating organizations were intentionally selected for a reliable national vision of the analyzed sector. The main criterion used was to have representation by the most important departments of the country (Cundinamarca, Valle del Cauca, Antioquia, Caldas, and Risaralda) and their capital cities. The researcher initially contacted 18 companies, filtered by city and relevance. Organization relevance was measured through market share and number of employees. During a second phase, confidentiality agreements were signed, and the following documents were sent: voluntary consent and waiver, data protection, and objectives presentation. The questionnaire was supervised by experts and sent to the participants online using the Google Forms tool. All the research was subject to an ethics committee at the end of 2021.
The time estimated to complete the survey was about thirty-five minutes. Processes were conducted on separate days. The leading researcher presented the most important objectives of the research online for about five minutes each day. Additionally, he clarified the advantage of reading the questions carefully for reflective answers. Finally, the rights of respondents were emphasized, highlighting the anonymity of the data collected and the non-discrimination of participants.

2.2. Ethical Aspects

This research project was evaluated on 21 July 2021, by the ethics committee of the University of Vic, Central University of Catalonia (Internal code: 170/2021). Its conclusions certify the following: (1) The study meets the necessary suitability requirements in relation to objectives and methodological design. (2) Ethical requirements regarding the obtention of informed consent and aspects related to confidentiality are met. (3) The researcher’s competence and available means are appropriate for conducting the study without any apparent risk as it is non-experimental. In fact, informed consent is handled considering the regulation of good scientific practices proposed by Spain’s Ministry of Science and Innovation.

2.3. Measures

Unless indicated otherwise, participants responded to all items using a 6-point scale (1 = Strongly disagree and 6 = Strongly agree).
Control Variables: Seniority and gender are used as control variables. Employees who are highly adaptive to organizational idiosyncrasies may be more resilient and committed. Survey participants were asked to indicate how long they had worked in the same company using a scale with one year as the minimum to measure seniority. Gender was coded as 0 for men and 1 for women.
Ethical Leadership: Ethical leadership was measured using the ten items developed by Brown et al. (2005). For example: “My leader can be trusted”. The Cronbach’s Alpha obtained by the original scale was 0.94, using a seven-point scale. This research obtained a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.92. Institutional leadership and its relationship with ethical attitudes are evaluated as a function of the leaders’ behaviors, interactions, and communications to transmit trust to followers. Applied by Santiago-Torner (2023c) using a 6-point scale and a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.92.
Affective Commitment: Affective commitment was measured using the six items proposed by Meyer et al. (1993). For example: “This organization has great personal meaning for me”. The Cronbach’s Alpha obtained by the original scale was 0.82, using a seven-point scale ranging from “totally agree” to “totally disagree”. This research obtained a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.86. The emotional relation and proximity of employees to the organization are assessed using Santiago-Torner (2023a), with a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.86.
Emotional Exhaustion: Emotional exhaustion was measured using the five items proposed by Schaufeli et al. (1996). The same six-point scale was used. For example: “I am emotionally exhausted at my job”. The Cronbach’s Alpha obtained by the original scale was 0.85, using a five-point Likert scale ranging from “totally agree” to “totally disagree”. This research obtained a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.90. The effect of the workload on individuals’ emotional resources is evaluated using Santiago-Torner (2023b), with a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.90.

2.4. Aggregation Statistics

The model used is a simple mediation tested with an analysis based on regressions. The Confidence Interval (CI) is 95%, and the number of bootstrapping samples is 10,000. This statistical method calculates each equation independently. The first model approximates the independent variable to the mediator and the different covariables. The second model adjusts the relationship between the covariables, the independent, and the mediator variables with respect to the dependent variable. The macro PROCESS (Hayes 2018) of the SPSS statistical program is used for this end. The data were checked in terms of linearity, normality, and multicollinearity issues before the mediation analysis. Kurtosis, skewness, and Mahalanobis distance scores were examined to determine linearity and normality (Aguinis et al. 2017). Variance Inflation Factors (VIFs) and Condition Index methods were used to determine multicollinearity issues. Condition Index values must be below 30 and VIF values below 10 to meet the assumption of normality. No multicollinearity issues were identified, and the data were normally distributed.

3. Results

3.1. Reliability Analysis

The reliability of the three scales used in this study is adequate (see Table 1 and Table 2). Cronbach’s Alphas are above 0.70, which, based on Bonett and Wright (2015), reveals reasonable internal uniformity. Additionally, Table 1 indicates the number of items (N), mean (M), standard deviation (SD), and different Pearson correlations. Ethical leadership (EL) is positively related to affective commitment (AC) (r = 0.291; p < 0.001) and emotional exhaustion (EE) (r = 0.372; p < 0.001). Likewise, AC and EE are also positively related (r = 0.445; p < 0.001). Finally, the first control variable, gender, has no significant links to the three main constructs. However, the second control variable, seniority, is negatively related to (EL) (r = −0.165; p < 0.001) and positively related to (EE) (r = 0.129; p < 0.001).

3.2. Confirmatory Factor Analysis

The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) is accomplished using the following absolute fit indices (Macro AMOS V.26): CMIN(χ2), likelihood ratio; (χ2/df), Chi-square with respect to the degrees of freedom; (RMSEA), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation; (SRMSR), Standardized Root Mean Square Residuals; and (GFI), Goodness-of-Fit Index. These values imply the degree to which the model can predict the matrix of observed covariances. Other incremental adjustment factors are used simultaneously: (IFI) Incremental Fit Index, (CFI) Comparative Fit Index, and (NFI) Normed Fit Index. These values verify the suggested model in relation to another model that usually does not specify the link between constructs. CFA confirms the validity of the proposed theoretical model (see Table 2).

3.3. Convergent and Discriminant Validity

Table 3 shows a second validation of the model through the validations suggested by Chin (1998). The following analyses are conducted to verify the robustness of all the variables: (1) Composite Reliability (CFC), (2) Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and (3) Discriminant Validity (DV). Likewise, Critical Coefficients (CRs) adjust to the recommendations of Hair et al. (2006) (>1.96; pvalue less than 0.05). CFC and Cronbach’s Alpha values are above 70, guaranteeing the constructs’ reliability. AVE factors are between 65% and 69%, which is significant. The square root of AVE must be greater than the Pearson correlations between variables to have discriminant validity, which clearly occurs (Fornell and Larcker 1981).

3.4. Validity Analysis

Hypothesis Testing

Figure 1 and Table 4 show simple mediation analyses with non-standardized regression coefficients while Figure 2 represents the evolution of the positive impact of ethical leadership on employees’ emotional exhaustion. Confidence intervals (CIs) are 95%, bootstrapping samples are 10,000, and upper and lower intervals (LLCI and ULCI) operate as dimensions. The regression analysis is irrelevant if 0 appears in the space delimited by the ranges. Determination coefficient R2 contributes to understanding the relevance of the model used.
Hypothesis 1 proposes that ethical leadership is positively linked to EE. Linear regressions justify this relationship (β = 0.12, SE =0.03, p < 0.05), (β = 0.20, SE = 0.03, p < 0.05). Therefore, the hypothesis is confirmed through routes c’ and c. Hypothesis 2 proposes that affective commitment mediates the positive relationship between ethical leadership and EE. Effects ai (β = 0.19, SE = 0.03, p < 0.05) and bi (β = 0.45, SE = 0.05, p < 0.05) along with the indirect mediation effect justify it (β = 0.08, SE = 0.02, p < 0.05).

4. Discussion

The main objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion, considering the mediating role of affective commitment. This investigation is possibly one of the first to establish a positive relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion.
Ethical leadership is a factor that can buffer the stress perceived by followers. Therefore, it acts as a resource supporting employees’ coping strategies to prevent conflicts from hindering their ability to react and to prevent negative aspects from outweighing positive ones. From this perspective, ethical leaders care about their subordinates by facilitating positive emotional experiences such as dignity, respect, or autonomy. That is, they place followers in a position where they can experience intense feelings of competence and self-determination (Zhou et al. 2020, 2022). Additionally, an honest approach prevents employees from wasting resources and energy by over-controlling their emotions (Lee et al. 2021). In this sense, strong compatibility is established between the role of ethical leadership and the effective reallocation of individual resources to avoid emotional exhaustion. Useful sources of motivation replenish employees’ resources and help their responses move away from exhaustion (Hobfoll et al. 2018).
On the other hand, the verification of Hypothesis 1 establishes that moral values and ethical convictions are not sustainable when supported by feelings of obligation. Ethical leaders are distinguished by fair and moral behavior. Their nature persuades followers by being trustworthy, compassionate, empathetic, and honest, thus becoming a role model (Santiago-Torner 2023a). Therefore, followers feel belittled when the leader’s character is excessively oriented toward moral and legal norms, as the leader renounces his own essence (Feng et al. 2018; Stouten et al. 2013). From this perspective, the relationship between leader and follower can be perceived under dichotomous approaches of reward or punishment. The theoretical ethical insufficiency of subordinates is transformed into a moral obligation to restore a vision under conditions of equality with the leader, which entails a permanent cognitive burden to prevent disapproval (Ekberg et al. 2021). Indeed, the feeling of pressure and the disproportionate sense of obligation lead to continuous introjected motivation that exceeds individual cognitive resources and weakens the self-regulation capacity to manage negative emotions correctly (Li et al. 2023). Introjected motivation seeks a balance between external demands and an unmet internal need (Flatau-Harrison et al. 2021; Gagné and Deci 2005). This hypothetical balance has an impact on personal self-esteem. When self-regulation is insufficient due to forced behavior, employees enter a spiral of loss of resources that affects their emotional health (Zhou et al. 2020).
The need for approval contradicts the basic psychological conditions of autonomy, relationship, and competence (Gagné and Deci 2005). Therefore, a feigned display of emotions dramatically increases emotional exhaustion (Lee et al. 2021). Finally, irrational ethical standards establish a point of moral rigidity so high that it prevents spontaneity, one of the critical traits defining the management of ethical leaders (Feng et al. 2018).
Verification of Hypothesis 2 establishes an indirect relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion. Affective commitment develops feelings of obligation and extra-role involvement in work activities (Guohao et al. 2021). In fact, employees with high affective commitment have the main objective of staying in the organization. Therefore, they show a remarkable willingness toward the guidelines defined by the leader (Asif et al. 2019). This natural inclination requires the worker to make cognitive and emotional investments.
Matthews and Edmondson (2020) specify that perceived organizational support attenuates excessive emotional stress and increases affective commitment. However, affective commitment can conflict with the moral principles of an ethical leader. Wanting to help the employing organization causes a strong tension between the leader’s ethical standards and certain amoral activities that are seen as beneficial to organizational growth (Cullinan et al. 2008; Matherne et al. 2018). Therefore, followers may feel overwhelmed wanting to imitate the moral management proposed by the ethical leader. The socio-emotional exchange between the two suggests that employees with high affective commitment have behaviors that are far from amoral behavior (Yurtkoru and Ebrahimi 2017). This one-way identification with the ethical leader confuses followers and can also exhaust them emotionally. That is, loyal employees are subject to greater pressure to direct their moral reasoning and emotions to achieve a balanced relationship with the leader (Park et al. 2023).
Moreover, when ethical leaders overstep certain moral boundaries, followers may feel that their freedom is restricted and even that their system of ideas is challenged. Therefore, the leader’s moral arguments may be perceived by the follower as a demand that needs constant emotional modifications (Kong and Jeon 2018). Indeed, theoretical moral differences and intrinsic desires from the follower to reduce them pose a state of imbalance and uncertainty due to an excess of expectations leading to role stress. This type of stress appears through conflict between multiple roles or when work demands excessively overload employees and destabilize them emotionally (Washburn et al. 2022). In fact, previous research has shown that role stress is a critical element directly related to emotional exhaustion and low job satisfaction (Washburn et al. 2022; Zhao and Jiang 2022). When individuals feel questioned, they hide their emotions as contextual characteristics, and pressure affects their behavior (Zhao and Jiang 2022). This emotional confusion becomes a vulnerability factor for followers, increasing their stress and overloading their role when they perceive that ethical approaches exceed their available resources. Therefore, the mid-term response may be a state of psychological overstimulation that emotionally exhausts them (Yurtkoru and Ebrahimi 2017).
Finally, another interesting study result that is not linked to any of the hypotheses is that job seniority is significantly linked to emotional exhaustion and affective commitment.
The sector analyzed, primarily public, is characterized by solid job stability. This continuity provides professionals with training plans and promotion opportunities. Therefore, there is likely a relationship between seniority in the organization and increasing job responsibility. In fact, management and intermediate positions are reached with an average professional experience of about seven years, confirming this initial perception. In this sense, employees can feel grateful to the organization, and this context of gratitude can lead to compensatory extra-role behaviors driven by an ethical management style that does not limit the amount of energy and resources used until exhausting them. These results are consistent with research conducted by Vargas et al. (2014). These authors conclude that job seniority, when linked to strong organizational identification, can lead to a greater consumption of energy and resources. This assumption fits with the mediating effect of affective commitment demonstrated in this research.

Practical Implications and Limitations

The possible practical implications follow. First, the findings are relevant because they establish a new relationship pattern between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion that differs from those described so far. Ethical leaders can affect followers’ emotions in two directions: positively and negatively.
Therefore, ethical leadership does not always impact employee well-being positively. In this sense, the development of new leaders is not contingent on evaluating specific personality traits or considering integrity critical for the adequate transfer of an ethical perspective. That is to say, the relationship between leader and follower cannot ignore the importance of human beings and their differential characteristics.
Second, a nearby leader can more easily convey an ethical discourse by sharing and understanding different emotional states. An empathetic line of leadership can lead to adaptive results that improve the emotional well-being of followers. Recognizing one’s weaknesses and the employees’ efforts to adjust to organizational values can make a difference and prevent followers from feeling overwhelmed by a supposed moral difference that is difficult to bridge. Ultimately, respect does not have to be accompanied by absolute submission but rather by valuable reflection by both parties.
Third, ethical leadership can only thrive in a context where the culture reflects the organization’s specific ethical intentions. Furthermore, if the ethical message remains a strong declaration of intentions, without facts to validate it, it will likely generate the opposite effect. Ethical language can be perceived from skeptical positions in emerging countries. Therefore, it needs to have practical consequences (Páez and Salgado 2016).
Fourth, the results of this research determine that ethical leadership has moral limits. When such are surpassed, its effect on emotional exhaustion changes direction and favors emotional exhaustion instead of acting against it. The Eastern assumption that going too far has the same negative effects as not going far enough (Feng et al. 2018) is likely to apply to the effect of ethical leadership. However, this study adheres to the assumption that Western organizations can change this negative approach. In other words, it is possible to shorten the hierarchical distance between leader and follower, to feed their competencies through positive feedback, and to prevent through trust relationships the moral rigidity that leads to emotional exhaustion (Santiago-Torner 2023a).
Finally, accessible, ethical leadership that emphasizes its vulnerabilities will have a much more significant impact on the follower’s affective commitment. Moral anguish prevents this type of commitment from proposing a beneficial scheme and instead acts as a resource catalyst that exhausts and frustrates followers. However, this type of commitment can buffer emotional exhaustion if the ethical leader avoids becoming a preliminary factor of possible ethical distances.
These findings have multiple limitations that may benefit future research. The model was analyzed in an emerging country, Colombia. Regarding result generalization, it is essential to highlight the unique characteristics of Colombian leaders that differ considerably from the usual balance of ethical leaders. Additionally, Colombian leadership tends to be lenient when it comes to applying sanctions, and reward or punishment is precisely one of the differentiating facets of ethical leaders (Páez and Salgado 2016). However, it is likely that the current situation in the Colombian electrical sector causes leaders to have much more rigid attitudes.
The results of this research are probably because the organizations studied are primarily public, and the anti-corruption policies proposed in the last seven years collide with Colombian idiosyncrasy itself. Therefore, excessively ethical leaders provoke such pronounced reactions in their followers’ emotional exhaustion. Finally, the main limitation of this research is the transversality that prevents determining a clear time sequence between dependent and independent variables, as both are measured simultaneously.
Regarding future research, it would be interesting to replicate the model not only in countries with identities similar to Colombia but also in places with different characteristics, to obtain complete knowledge of the impact of ethical leadership on emotional exhaustion. It is also possible to include other leadership styles with traits matching those of ethical leadership. For example, exploring transformational or authentic leadership to determine a possible exclusivity of ethical leadership on emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, the approaches of some emerging leaderships, such as ethical, authentic, or service leadership, are aimed toward the followers’ behaviors and moral advancement, along with a learning style based on social contact and understanding their context. In fact, they are strongly related to each other, which indicates empirical overlap and redundancy, including transformational leadership (Hoch and Kozlowski 2014; Lemoine et al. 2019).
However, beyond their similarities, it would be interesting to study how they impact emotional exhaustion and to determine a possible exclusivity of ethical leadership. Most results establish a mitigating influence of these management styles on emotional exhaustion (Stein et al. 2021; Tang et al. 2016). Therefore, the opposite effect revealed by ethical leadership in this research represents an advance in understanding the undesirable effects of a specific management style. Finally, using moderators, such as psychological safety, introjected motivation, or personality traits, could expand the existing literature on the effects of ethical leadership. Furthermore, the use of trust as a mediating or moderating factor could explain the extent to which trusting relationships can attenuate a context of high moral intensity (Santiago-Torner 2023d, 2023e).

5. Conclusions

The Colombian industrial sector, specifically its electrical sector, is subject to demanding work environments that threaten the subordinates’ emotional balance. A reduction in resources forces employees to make a continuous effort to try to restore them, leading to higher stress levels and, eventually, to emotional exhaustion. In this sense, ethical leadership and affective commitment are crucial resources that improve the psychological well-being of employees.
However, the findings of this research demonstrate that ethical leadership only decreases the probability of emotional exhaustion when it maintains an outlook of equality and a trust approach with employees. That is, when the leader maintains a balance between his/her facets as a moral person and a moral administrator, without any/either one of them taking center stage. On the other hand, when communication between the leader and the potential follower is strictly based on moral criteria, a dependency is established that conditions the employee’s behavior. This circumstance suggests that reducing moral gaps requires an extra expenditure of resources that drains subordinates emotionally until exhaustion.
On the other hand, affective commitment is nourished by satisfactory work experiences. Committed employees can face work stressors with a greater number of resources and with greater emotional intensity since they have an exclusive bond with the organization. This desire to overcome obstacles through a proactive attitude, seemingly without restrictions, can be a double-edged sword. That is to say; when emotionally committed followers collide with an excessively rigorous ethical leader who does not comfort them psychologically and does not contribute to improving their feelings of competence, it is foreseeable that employees will experience feigned affective reactions that interrupt their spontaneity and lead to emotional exhaustion.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, C.S.-T., M.G.-C. and R.A.M.A.; methodology, C.S.-T., M.G.-C. and R.A.M.A. validation, C.S.-T.; formal analysis, C.S.-T.; investigation, C.S.-T., M.G.-C. and R.A.M.A.; resources, C.S.-T., M.G.-C. and R.A.M.A.; data curation, C.S.-T.; writing—original draft preparation, C.S.-T.; writing—review and editing, C.S.-T., M.G.-C. and R.A.M.A.; visualization, C.S.-T., M.G.-C. and R.A.M.A.; supervision, C.S.-T., M.G.-C. and R.A.M.A.; project administration, C.S.-T., M.G.-C. and R.A.M.A.; funding acquisition, C.S.-T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

There’s no need. This part could be included. Data Availability Statement: The original data presented in the study and used questionnaire are openly available in The Open Science Framework repository at https://osf.io/w2g5b/?view_only=f8b9995262ed469eab5413f302dd83c4.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

Data are contained within the article.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Admsci 14 00233 g001
Figure 1. Regression Analysis Results. Figure 1 shows different effects. First, the positive relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion (route c’). Second, the positive relationship between ethical leadership and affective commitment (route ai). Third, the positive relationship between affective commitment and emotional exhaustion (route bi). Therefore, affective commitment fulfills its mediating function. Finally, the covariate seniority is positively associated with emotional exhaustion. The * means that the relationship is statistically significant.
Figure 1. Regression Analysis Results. Figure 1 shows different effects. First, the positive relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion (route c’). Second, the positive relationship between ethical leadership and affective commitment (route ai). Third, the positive relationship between affective commitment and emotional exhaustion (route bi). Therefore, affective commitment fulfills its mediating function. Finally, the covariate seniority is positively associated with emotional exhaustion. The * means that the relationship is statistically significant.
Admsci 14 00233 g001
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Figure 2. The figure represents the evolution of the positive impact of ethical leadership on employees’ emotional exhaustion. Low moral intensity softens the positive impact of the ethical leader on the follower’s emotional exhaustion. However, high moral intensity dramatically increases the positive relationship between ethical leadership and employee emotional exhaustion. This figure represents an advance in the existing knowledge on the effect of an ethical leader on a follower’s emotional well-being.
Figure 2. The figure represents the evolution of the positive impact of ethical leadership on employees’ emotional exhaustion. Low moral intensity softens the positive impact of the ethical leader on the follower’s emotional exhaustion. However, high moral intensity dramatically increases the positive relationship between ethical leadership and employee emotional exhaustion. This figure represents an advance in the existing knowledge on the effect of an ethical leader on a follower’s emotional well-being.
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Table 1. Descriptive Statistics.
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics.
ConstructsNMSDGAELACEE
Gender (G)10.390.49
Seniority (A)13.581.840.037
Ethical Leadership (EL)1051.608.22−0.049−0.165 *0.830
Affective Commitment (AC)629.813.820.0820.0730.291 *0.830
Emotional Exhaustion (EE)523.115.550.0280.129 *0.372 *0.445 *0.810
Note: The table shows the calculation of the descriptive information and the Pearson correlations. Discriminant validity (diagonal) is also included. (N) Number of items. (M) Mean. (SD) Standard Deviation. Significant correlations * (p < 0.05). CI (95%) (n = 448). Numbers in bold represent discriminant validity.
Table 2. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).
Table 2. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).
Goodness of Fit MeasureAcceptable Fit LevelsResults
CMIN (χ2)χ2 (small)465.12
χ2gl<32.80
RMSEA<0.060.046
SRMSR<0.080.062
GFI>0.900.926
IFI>0.900.922
CFI>0.900.914
NFI>0.900.921
Note: correct model adaptation depends on specific causes. (1) Number of variables. (2) Scale used and response points. (3) Sample size. The reasonable fit shown by the CFA is likely due to the low number of variables analyzed (three), to the number of response points (six), and to the sample size (n = 448). Samples close to or equal to 450 participants have a 77% probability of having a good fit (Morata-Ramírez et al. 2015).
Table 3. Convergent and Discriminant Validity.
Table 3. Convergent and Discriminant Validity.
ALPHA 1CR 2CFC 3AVE 4VD 5
EL0.92>1.960.8500.6900.830
AC0.86>1.960.8300.6900.830
EE0.90>1.960.8600.6500.810
Note: The table shows the degree to which the measures of the items that include the same concept are correlated (convergent validity) and the theoretical difference between the different constructs (discriminant validity). 1 Cronbach’s Alpha. 2 Critical Coefficients. 3 Composite Reliability. 4 Average Variance Extracted. 5 Discriminant Validity.
Table 4. Mediation Analysis Results.
Table 4. Mediation Analysis Results.
EffectRouteβptESLLCIULCI
Model 1 (EL 1–AC 2): R = 0.331; R2 = 0.110; SE = 20.76; F = 18.200; p = 0.001
EL–ACai0.1850.0016.9600.0270.1330.238
Gender–AC-0.9140.0352.1170.4420.0671.806
Seniority–AC-0.3250.0062.7430.1190.0930.560
Model 2 (EL–EE 3; AC–EE): R = 0.482; R2 = 0.232; SE = 23.91; F = 33.471; p = 0.001
AC–EEbi0.4530.0018.6870.0510.3430.543
EL–EE (Direct)c’0.1160.0013.8600.0300.0570.175
EL–EE (Total)c0.1980.0016.4200.0310.0360.293
Gender–EE-0.0140.9680.0400.477−0.9180.956
Seniority–EE-0.3940.0023.0590.1290.1410.647
Indirect Mediation Effect: β = 0.082, SE = 0.018, 95% CI [0.050, 0.121]
Note: The table shows two linear regression models. The first model describes the effect of 1 ethical leadership on 2 affective commitment along with the two covariables. The second model explains the relationships between the independent and mediator variables and the covariables with the dependent variable 3 emotional exhaustion. Statistical strength (f2) is average (0.270). CI (95%) (n = 448).
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MDPI and ACS Style

Santiago-Torner, C.; González-Carrasco, M.; Miranda Ayala, R.A. Ethical Leadership and Emotional Exhaustion: The Impact of Moral Intensity and Affective Commitment. Adm. Sci. 2024, 14, 233. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14090233

AMA Style

Santiago-Torner C, González-Carrasco M, Miranda Ayala RA. Ethical Leadership and Emotional Exhaustion: The Impact of Moral Intensity and Affective Commitment. Administrative Sciences. 2024; 14(9):233. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14090233

Chicago/Turabian Style

Santiago-Torner, Carlos, Mònica González-Carrasco, and Rafael Alberto Miranda Ayala. 2024. "Ethical Leadership and Emotional Exhaustion: The Impact of Moral Intensity and Affective Commitment" Administrative Sciences 14, no. 9: 233. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14090233

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