Investigating the effect of ethical leadership on employees’ psychological capital with the mediating role of organisational identification

Ethical leadership (EL) is a newly conceptualized form of leadership. Ethical leaders show the right and proper behavior to their followers and they use communication, reward, and punishment to develop ethics in the organizations. Moreover, they consider the ethical outcomes of their decisions and actions. Because ethical leaders are role models for their followers, subordinates can also learn from leaders. Therefore, the notion of social learning theory is important in the definition of EL, which means that followers can learn ethical norms and behaviors from the actions and behaviors of their leaders through role modelling.