Linking Ethical Leadership to Employee Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Resolution Efficacy and Workplace Conflict

Abstract

This study examines the mediating role of resolution efficacy and workplace conflict in the relationship between ethical leadership and employee well-being, and tests whether resolution efficacy and workplace conflict sequentially mediate this relationship. Data were collected from 350 bank employees in Lahore, Pakistan, using a convenience sample and a self administered questionnaire. Reliability and correlation analyses were conducted, and the hypothesized model was tested using Hayes’ PROCESS Model 6, the approach best suited to a sequential mediation design. Grounded in Conservation of Resources theory, the findings show that ethical leadership is significantly and positively related to employee well-being. Resolution efficacy mediates this relationship, although the effect is comparatively weak; workplace conflict is also a significant mediator; and resolution efficacy and workplace conflict sequentially mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and employee well-being. These findings indicate that resolution efficacy functions as a form of conflict-resolution self efficacy that employees acquire by observing their supervisors’ behavior. This efficacy contributes to employee well-being because it enables more constructive interaction with colleagues, which in turn reinforces the efficacy belief itself. The study extends the ethical leadership literature by clarifying the psychological and relational mechanisms through which ethical leaders shape employee well-being, and offers organizations practical guidance on reducing workplace conflict through ethical leadership development.