Examining leadership style and ethical reasoning in Nigeria public sector

Drawing from the Neo-Kohlbergian Four-Component Model of moral reasoning and diverse normative ethical theories on moral behavior, this study investigated the relationship between leadership styles and post conventional cognitive moral development in propelling ethical behaviors in the Nigerian public sector. Primarily, it considered subordinates‘ perception of public leaders‘ leadership style in relation to post conventional reasoning of the subordinates, by exploring the roles of religiosity commitment, individualism and collectivism as moderators, with emphasis on their dimensions of vertical individualism and collectivism. A quantitative approach was employed and 285 public servants completed the self-administered questionnaires using the defining issue test (DIT2) for moral reasoning and the multi-leadership questionnaire (MLQ) for leadership. Partial Least Squares Method (PLS) algorithm was used for testing of the study‘s hypotheses. Results provided a significant positive effect for some of the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, the result revealed that transformational and transactional leadership styles were significantly related to post-conventional reasoning. Findings also showed that the relationship between transformational leadership and post conventional cognitive moral development was found to be significantly moderated by religiosity commitment and vertical individualism and collectivism. However, vertical individualism and collectivism did not have a significant moderating effect on transactional leadership style and post-conventional reasoning. The findings also indicated that religiosity does not have a significant moderation effect on transactional leadership style. The results supported prior study‘s findings, thereby contributing to the body of knowledge on leadership style and ethical reasoning. Thus, it has provided a road map for public sector organizations desiring improved ethical workforce