Enhancing employee wellbeing by ethical leadership in the construction industry: The role of perceived organizational support

• Published in: Frontiers in public health Vol. 10; p. 935557
• Main Authors: Cheng, Jiajia, Zhang, Lianying, Lin, Yuan, Guo, Haiyan, Zhang, Shaoping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 16.09.2022
• Subjects: China; Construction Industry; employee wellbeing; ethical leadership; Humans; Leadership; mediating role; perceived organizational support; Public Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; Workplace; China; mediating role; ethical leadership; perceived organizational support; construction industry; employee wellbeing
• ISSN: 2296-2565; 2296-2565
• DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.935557

Employee wellbeing is a crucial determinant in overall organizational performance. However, in the construction Industry, it is damaged by hazardous and stressful work environment. This study aims to explore how ethical leadership influences and thus could enhance employee wellbeing through perceived organizational support (POS). We proposed several hypotheses and developed the research framework accordingly. To test the hypotheses, an elaborately designed survey was used to collect quantitative data from 194 employees in the construction companies in China. Our results show that ethical leadership is positively related to the employee wellbeing. This study further reveals a remarkable indirect effect of ethical leadership on employee wellbeing the mediating POS. Consequently, our findings suggest that, to enhance employee wellbeing, ethical leaders can develop a relaxing ethical environment and provide sufficient organizational support to the employees.