Leading by example: the influence of ethical supervision on students’ prosocial behavior
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Higher Education
Publisher
Springer
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
26116
Abstract
Universities worldwide strive to nurture socially responsible graduates to create a better society. Since ethical behavior of role models can stimulate followers’ professional standards and ethical values, it is crucial to focus on an appropriate path through which ethical values can be conveyed and learned by individuals. The current study seeks to examine if this objective can be facilitated through the positive role played by academic supervisors at higher education level. Owing to the very close leader-follower relationship, this study empirically investigated if ethical supervisors could stimulate prosocial behavior among students under their supervision. Data was collected from 240 postgraduate university students and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings of this study revealed that students demonstrated greater anonymous, emotional, and compliant prosocial behavior when they perceived stronger ethical supervision. Study implications and limitations have been discussed.
DOI
10.1007/s10734-017-0130-4
Access Rights
subscription content
Comments
Nejati, M., & Shafaei, A. (2018). Leading by example: the influence of ethical supervision on students’ prosocial behavior. Higher Education, 75(1), 75-89. Available here.