Authentic leadership and internal whistleblowing intention. The mediating role of psychological safety
| Date | 01 April 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-04-2018-0045 |
| Published date | 01 April 2019 |
| Pages | 556-567 |
| Author | Rita Anugerah,Muhammad Rasyid Abdillah,Rizqa Anita |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & Finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial crime |
Authentic leadership and internal
whistleblowing intention
The mediating role of psychological safety
Rita Anugerah
Department of Accounting, Universitas Riau, Pekanbaru, Indonesia
Muhammad Rasyid Abdillah
College of Management, Dayeh University, Dacun Township, Taiwan and
Department of Management, Universitas Lancang Kuning,
Pekanbaru, Indonesia, and
Rizqa Anita
College of Management, Dayeh University, Dacun Township, Taiwan and
Department of Accounting, Universitas Lancang Kuning,
Pekanbaru, Indonesia
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to investigate the effect of authentic leadership on internal whistleblowing
intentionthrough psychological safety.
Design/methodology/approach –To test the hypotheses, thepartial least square analysis is applied to
questionnairesurvey data from 201 employees from State ProvinceGovernment of Indonesia.
Findings –The results reveal that authentic leadership and psychological safety influence the internal
whistleblowingintention. The result also indicates that authentic leadershiphas an indirect effect on internal
whistleblowingintention through psychologicalsafety.
Originality/value –This study has made a valuable contribution for scholars and managers to the
understanding of factors that affect internal whistleblowing intention at government officers in Indonesia context.
Keywords Psychological safety, Authentic leadership, Internal whistleblowing
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The government is supposed to be open andtransparent with full disclosure of unethical or
illegal behaviors (e.g. corruption) to the public. Corruption is a recognized problem in
Indonesia; civil society reports reveal that bribery in the granting of public procurement
contracts, infrastructure and publishing of licenses and permits is commonplace (OECD,
2015). This will impair the effectiveness of the government and decrease public trust.
According to the World Gallup Poll, 88 per cent of citizens feel corruption is widespread in
government (OECD, 2015). Therefore, corruption must be disclosed toenhance public trust
and to encourage the economic growthof the country. One way to detect unethical or illegal
behaviors is through whistleblowing(Liu et al., 2015;Berry, 2004).
The authors are grateful to Bruce J. Avolio who is a Professor and Executive Director of the Foster
School of Business, University of Washington for his permission to using his instruments (Authentic
Leadership Questionnaire) in this study.
JFC
26,2
556
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.26 No. 2, 2019
pp. 556-567
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-04-2018-0045
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