Ethical Leadership and Thriving at Work: The Interplay of Psychological Safety and Mental Health in Serial Mediation Model

This study examines the chain reaction by which ethical leadership promotes employees’ thriving at work, with psychological safety and employee mental health acting as serial mediators. Data were collected using a convenience sampling method through on-site surveys at six stores of the same brand, yielding 355 valid responses. The findings indicate that ethical leadership significantly enhances employees’ thriving, both directly and indirectly through a sequential process. Specifically, the relationship is mediated by increased psychological safety and improved mental health. Organizations should prioritize ethical leadership to foster employee well-being and workplace thriving. Creating a psychologically safe environment through ethical practices and initiatives that support engagement and mental health is essential. Although psychological safety and mental health are known to drive positive outcomes, their combined role in fostering workplace thriving has been underexplored. By investigating their sequential mediation, this study offers deeper insight into how ethical leadership contributes to employee thriving.