Ethical Leadership, Ethical Climate, and Job Satisfaction as Predictors of Employee Integrity: PLS-SEM Evidence from Indonesian Public Revenue Institutions

Authors

  • Isra Ahadiwustha Universitas Negeri Padang
  • Syahrizal Syahrizal Universitas Negeri Padang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/eajmr.v5i4.87

Keywords:

Ethical Climate, Ethical Leadership, Employee Integrity, Job Satisfaction

Abstract

This study examines how ethical leadership influences employee integrity in public sector tax administration, focusing on the mediating roles of ethical climate and job satisfaction. Data were collected from 260 civil servants using proportionate stratified random sampling across ten Tax Service Offices under the Directorate General of Taxes in West Sumatra and Jambi, Indonesia. Using PLS-SEM, the results show that ethical leadership significantly enhances ethical climate and job satisfaction. Ethical climate strongly predicts employee integrity and mediates the leadership–integrity relationship, while job satisfaction shows no direct or mediating effect. These findings indicate that integrity is driven more by normative and structural conditions than affective attitudes, highlighting ethical climate as the key mechanism linking leadership to integrity.

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Published

2026-04-15

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Section

Articles