The Paradox of Reciprocity: How Self-Sacrificial Leadership Promotes Both Ethical and Unethical Behaviors Through Felt Obligation and the Moderating Role of Moral Identity

Previous research has consistently demonstrated that leaders’ self-sacrificial behavior motivates subordinates to engage in prosocial behaviors benefiting colleagues and the organization. However, scholars have overlooked how subordinates respond directly toward the self-sacrificial leaders themselves. Drawing upon social exchange theory, we propose that self-sacrificial leadership evokes felt obligation to the supervisor, which subsequently leads to both supervisor-directed citizenship behavior (OCB-S) and unethical pro-supervisor behavior (UPSB). We further posit that subordinates’ moral identity moderates the relationship between self-sacrificial leadership and felt obligation, consequently strengthening the indirect effects of self-sacrificial leadership on both OCB-S and UPSB through felt obligation. We tested our hypotheses using data from 363 supervisor-subordinate dyads in a South Korean police department. Results provided strong support for our theoretical model, demonstrating that self-sacrificial leadership can paradoxically promote both ethical and unethical behaviors through the same psychological mechanism of felt obligation, with these effects amplified among subordinates with stronger moral identity. These findings extend our understanding of self-sacrificial leadership by illuminating its potential “dark side” and revealing the complex interplay between leadership influences, moral identity, and ethical decision-making in organizational contexts. Theoretical and practical implications for leadership and behavioral ethics are discussed.