Abstract: All over the world, the concern with business and marketing ethics has been on the rise, leading to intensified research efforts in this area. Albert Bandura’s theory of moral disengagement was developed to explain why certain people are able to engage in unethical decision making or inhumane conduct without apparent distress. It is also important to consider whether ethical leadership can influence the ethical quality of follower decisions. In the present study, we tried to investigate the moderating role of ethical leadership playing in the linkages between moral disengagement and ethical decision making in the context of Chinese organization. A structured questionnaire was employed as the research instrument for this study. It consisted of five scales designed to measure the variables of moral disengagement, moral recognition, moral judgment, moral intent, and ethical leadership. Data were collected from 819 full-time employees who came from enterprises and institutions located in Beijing, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Liaoning and Jilin. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the above measures were from 0.83 to 0.91, showing good measurement reliabilities. Hierarchical regression modeling was utilized to analyze the data for testing the hypotheses proposed. In line with predictions, results of hierarchical regression modeling analysis suggested ethical leadership significantly moderated the relationship between moral disengagement and moral recognition, and moral judgment. Nevertheless, ethical leadership did not have moderating effect on the relation between moral disengagement and moral intent. But ethical leadership had a significant negative influence on moral intent. The present study clearly indicates that moral disengagement have a signification effect on ethical decision making, that is, employees with high moral disengagement will more likely making unethical decision. However, the effect can be moderated by ethical leadership. This implicates that managers should pay more attention to ethical leadership for employees in order to reduce their moral disengagement and unethical decision making.

Key words: moral disengagement, moral recognition, moral judgment, moral intent, ethical leadership

摘要： 运用问卷调查的方法，以819名员工为研究被试，探讨了德行领导在道德推脱影响道德决策过程中的调节作用。采用层次回归分析的方法研究发现：德行领导对道德推脱与道德识别、道德判断之间的关系具有调节作用；但德行领导不会对道德推脱与道德意图之间的关系产生调节作用，而会对道德意图产生显著的直接影响。

关键词: 道德推脱, 道德识别, 道德判断, 道德意图, 德行领导