From Silence to Voice: How Ethical Leadership Influences Employees’ Promotive Voice Behavior Through Feedback Seeking Behavior and Role Ambiguity

This study focuses on two key dimensions—employees’ psychological cognition and behavioral motivation—to examine the dual effects of ethical leadership on employees’ promotive voice behavior. A questionnaire survey was conducted among workers from various industries in China, and data from 396 valid responses were analyzed. The findings supported our hypotheses, indicating that employees’ feedback-seeking behavior and role ambiguity fully mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and promotive voice behavior. Specifically, we found that ethical leadership enhances promotive voice behavior by fostering employees’ feedback-seeking behavior and by reducing their role ambiguity. These results demonstrate that ethical leadership indirectly influences promotive voice behavior by strengthening employees’ behavioral motivation and alleviating their negative perceptions of roles. This study contributes significant theoretical and practical insights into the exploration of leadership and employees’ voice behavior for organizational improvement and offers valuable directions for future research.