Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 26, 2025
06:42
Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
Published on: September 28, 2018
12.0K
Corruption, Fast or Slow? Ethical Leadership Interacts With Machiavellianism to Influence Intuitive Thinking and
Muhammad U Manara1,2, Suzanne van Gils3, Annika Nübold1
1Department of Work and Social Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
Frontiers in Psychology
|December 11, 2020
Summary
Ethical leadership reduces follower corruption by promoting intuitive thinking. However, the impact of Machiavellianism on this relationship varied across studies, suggesting complex interactions in preventing workplace dishonesty.
Area of Science:
- Organizational Behavior
- Ethics
- Psychology
Background:
- Ethical leadership is proposed to mitigate unethical behaviors within organizations.
- Research is needed to understand the mechanisms and boundary conditions through which ethical leadership influences follower corruption.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mediating role of intuitive thinking style in the ethical leadership-corruption relationship.
- To examine the moderating role of followers' Machiavellianism in the ethical leadership-corruption link.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted: a field study and an experiment.
- Data were analyzed to assess mediation by intuitive thinking and moderation by Machiavellianism.
Main Results:
- Ethical leadership was found to decrease followers' corruption in both studies.
- The negative effect of ethical leadership on corruption was mediated by followers' intuitive thinking style (Study 2).
- Followers' Machiavellianism moderated the direct effect, with inconsistent patterns observed between Study 1 (strongest effect with high Machiavellianism) and Study 2 (strongest effect with low Machiavellianism).
Conclusions:
- Ethical leadership effectively reduces follower corruption, partly through fostering intuitive thinking.
- The influence of followers' Machiavellianism on the efficacy of ethical leadership in curbing corruption is complex and context-dependent.
- Findings offer theoretical insights into corruption, ethical leadership, and information processing, with practical implications for anti-corruption strategies.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:29Dark Triad and Person Perception
120
Person perception is influenced by both external behaviors and the observer’s internal characteristics, including personality traits. Individuals with dark personality traits, comprising psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism — collectively known as the dark triad – exhibit manipulative and exploitative tendencies in social contexts. These traits affect how they perceive others and how they are perceived.The Role of Dark Personality Traits in Person PerceptionBlack et...
120
01:37Reason and Intuition
7.2K
The human brain processes information for decision-making using one of two routes: an intuitive system and a rational system (Epstein, 1994; popularized by Kahneman, 2011 as System 1 and System 2, respectively). The intuitive system is quick, impulsive, and operates with minimal effort, relying on emotions or habits to provide cues for what to do next, while the rational system is logical, analytical, deliberate, and methodical. Research in neuropsychology suggests that the...
7.2K
01:19Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development
486
Kohlberg's theory of moral development uses the Heinz dilemma — a thought experiment in which a man, Heinz, must decide whether to steal an unaffordable drug to save his dying wife — to illustrate the evolution of moral reasoning. This framework, divided into three levels with two stages, highlights how individuals' understanding of right and wrong becomes increasingly complex.
Pre-Conventional Level
At the pre-conventional level, morality is primarily driven by personal...
Pre-Conventional Level
At the pre-conventional level, morality is primarily driven by personal...
486
01:34Groupthink
47.9K
When in group settings, we are often influenced by the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around us. Groupthink is another phenomenon of conformity where modification of the opinions of members in a group aligns with what they believe is the group consensus (Janis, 1972). In such situations, the group often takes action that individuals would not perform outside the group setting because groups make more extreme decisions than individuals do. Moreover, groupthink can hinder opposing trains of...
47.9K
01:15Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory
211
Correspondent inference theory, proposed by Jones and Davis in 1965, seeks to explain how individuals infer stable personality traits from observed behaviors. It suggests that people attribute actions to underlying dispositions rather than external circumstances, particularly when the behavior appears intentional and socially significant.Voluntary Behavior and Dispositional AttributionAccording to this theory, individuals are more likely to attribute behavior to personal traits when it appears...
211
01:08Obedience
34.7K
According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation,...
34.7K