Vol. 14 No. 3 (2026): Business & Management Studies: An International Journal
Articles

The role of psychological capital in the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior

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  • Ahmet Fatih Özyılmaz
Ahmet Fatih Özyılmaz
Dr. Lecturer, Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Karaman, Türkiye

Published 2026-09-25

Keywords

  • Etik Liderlik, Örgütsel Vatandaşlık Davranışı, Psikolojik Sermaye, Çalışan Tutumları, Örgütsel Davranış
  • Ethical Leadership, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Psychological Capital, Employee Attitudes, Organizational Behavior

How to Cite

The role of psychological capital in the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(3), 1503-1517. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i3.2766

Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmet Fatih Özyılmaz

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

The role of psychological capital in the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(3), 1503-1517. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i3.2766

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between employees’ perceptions of ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior and the mediating role of psychological capital. Using a cross-sectional correlational design, online survey data were collected from 410 employees in public- and private-sector organizations. Measures of ethical leadership, psychological capital, and organizational citizenship behavior were analyzed through correlation, regression, and bootstrap-based mediation analyses. Ethical leadership was positively associated with organizational citizenship behavior (r = .310) and psychological capital (r = .225), while psychological capital was positively associated with organizational citizenship behavior (r = .469). The regression results showed that ethical leadership significantly predicted organizational citizenship behavior and psychological capital, and that psychological capital significantly predicted organizational citizenship behavior. The reported bootstrap confidence interval indicated a significant indirect path through psychological capital. Ethical leadership and psychological capital differed significantly across age groups, whereas organizational citizenship behavior differed by sector, education level, and organizational tenure. The findings underscore the importance of employees’ positive psychological resources in explaining the association between ethical leadership and discretionary work behavior.

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