Authentic Leadership and Behavioral Integrity as Drivers of Follower Commitment and Performance

The literatures on both authentic leadership and behavioral integrity have argued that leader integrity drives follower performance. Yet, despite overlap in conceptualization and mechanisms, no research has investigated how authentic leadership and behavioral integrity relate to one another in driving follower performance. In this study, we propose and test the notion that authentic leadership behavior is an antecedent to perceptions of leader behavioral integrity, which in turn affects follower affective organizational commitment and follower work role performance. Analysis of a survey of 49 teams in the service industry supports the proposition that authentic leadership is related to follower affective organizational commitment, fully mediated through leader behavioral integrity. Next, we found that authentic leadership and leader behavioral integrity are related to follower work role performance, fully mediated through follower affective organizational commitment. These relationships hold when controlling for ethical organizational culture.

[1]  Raymond T. Sparrowe,et al.  Authentic leadership and the narrative self , 2005 .

[2]  Tony Simons,et al.  Racial differences in sensitivity to behavioral integrity: attitudinal consequences, in-group effects, and "trickle down" among Black and non-Black employees. , 2006, The Journal of applied psychology.

[3]  B. Bass,et al.  The Bass handbook of leadership , 2008 .

[4]  Bruce J. Avolio,et al.  Authentic leadership theory and practice : origins, effects and development , 2005 .

[5]  T. Little,et al.  To Parcel or Not to Parcel: Exploring the Question, Weighing the Merits , 2002 .

[6]  Brian R. Dineen,et al.  Supervisory guidance and behavioral integrity: relationships with employee citizenship and deviant behavior. , 2006, The Journal of applied psychology.

[7]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  Testing Multilevel Mediation Using Hierarchical Linear Models , 2008 .

[8]  Janice S. Miller,et al.  The Positive Ethical Organization: Enacting a Living Code of Ethics and Ethical Organizational Identity , 2007 .

[9]  Margaret C. McKee,et al.  Restorying a Culture of Ethical and Spiritual Values: A Role for Leader Storytelling , 2007 .

[10]  R. P. McDonald,et al.  Principles and practice in reporting structural equation analyses. , 2002, Psychological methods.

[11]  M. Kernis.  TARGET ARTICLE: Toward a Conceptualization of Optimal Self-Esteem , 2003 .

[12]  Thomas E. Becker,et al.  Employee commitment and motivation: a conceptual analysis and integrative model. , 2004, The Journal of applied psychology.

[13]  T. Simons.  The Integrity Dividend: Leading by the Power of Your Word , 2008 .

[14]  John P. Meyer,et al.  AFFECTIVE, CONTINUANCE, AND NORMATIVE COMMITMENT TO THE ORGANIZATION: A META-ANALYSIS OF ANTECEDENTS, CORRELATES, AND CONSEQUENCES , 2002 .

[15]  Tony Simoms,et al.  Behavioral Integrity: The Perceived Alignment Between Managers' Words and Deeds as a Research Focus , 2002, Organ. Sci..

[16]  S. Parker,et al.  A new model of work role performance: Positive behavior in uncertain and interdependent contexts , 2007 .

[17]  Kevin T. Jackson.  Towards Authenticity: A Sartrean Perspective on Business Ethics , 2005 .

[18]  Francis J. Yammarino,et al.  Team Virtues and Performance: An Examination of Transparency, Behavioral Integrity, and Trust , 2011 .

[19]  Tony Simons,et al.  Authentic Leadership and Behavioral Integrity as Drivers of Follower Commitment and Performance , 2011, Journal of Business Ethics.

[20]  C. Swarnalatha,et al.  POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: ENGAGED EMPLOYEES IN FLOURISHING ORGANIZATIONS , 2012 .

[21]  Kim S. Cameron,et al.  The Oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship , 2011 .

[22]  M. Kernis,et al.  A Multicomponent Conceptualization of Authenticity: Theory and Research , 2006 .

[23]  C. Schriesheim,et al.  Looking forward but learning from our past: Potential challenges to developing authentic leadership theory and authentic leaders , 2005 .

[24]  P. Bliese.  Within-group agreement, non-independence, and reliability: Implications for data aggregation and analysis. , 2000 .

[25]  S. Kozlowski,et al.  Multilevel Theory, Research, and Methods in Organizations: Foundations, Extensions, and New Directions , 2000 .

[26]  Bruce J. Avolio,et al.  “Can you see the real me?” A self-based model of authentic leader and follower development , 2005 .

[27]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[28]  M. Lindell,et al.  Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[29]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[30]  F. Yammarino,et al.  Impact of behavioral integrity on follower job performance: A three-study examination , 2011 .

[31]  Tony Simons,et al.  Behavioral integrity as a critical ingredient for transformational leadership , 1999 .

[32]  Edward C. Tomlinson,et al.  Research on Behavioral Integrity: A Promising Construct for Positive Organizational Scholarship , 2011 .

[33]  Christian J. Resick,et al.  Leaders, Values, and Organizational Climate: Examining Leadership Strategies for Establishing an Organizational Climate Regarding Ethics , 2004 .

[34]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization. , 1993 .

[35]  A. Bakker,et al.  Positive organizational behavior: Engaged employees in flourishing organizations , 2008 .

[36]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Convergence of Structural Equation Modeling and Multilevel Modeling , 2011 .

[37]  Fred Luthans,et al.  : Authentically leading groups: The mediating role of collective psychological capital and trust , 2011 .

[38]  Fred Luthans,et al.  Emerging Positive Organizational Behavior , 2007 .

[39]  Hui Wang,et al.  RETRACTED: Psychological processes linking authentic leadership to follower behaviors , 2010 .

[40]  Fred O. Walumbwa,et al.  Unlocking the mask: a look at the process by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors , 2004 .

[41]  Fred O. Walumbwa,et al.  Authentic Leadership: Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Measure† , 2008 .

[42]  J. Liedtka.  Strategy Making and the Search for Authenticity , 2008 .

[43]  Francis J. Yammarino,et al.  Integrity and Leadership:: Clearing the Conceptual Confusion , 2007 .

[44]  Charles J. Kacmar,et al.  Development and Validation of the Political Skill Inventory , 2005 .

[45]  John P. Meyer,et al.  The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization , 1990 .

[46]  Muel Kaptein,et al.  Developing and Testing a Measure for the Ethical Culture of Organizations: The Corporate Ethical Virtues Model , 2007 .

[47]  E. Deci,et al.  Self‐determination theory and work motivation , 2005 .

[48]  Marylène Gagné,et al.  Employee Engagement From a Self-Determination Theory Perspective , 2008, Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

[49]  B. Bass,et al.  The Bass handbook of leadership : theory, research, and managerial applications , 2008 .