The Effect of a Leader's Emotional Intelligence on the Subordinate's Intention to Whistleblow

Two experiments in this dissertation examine the effect of a leader's emotional intelligence and its interaction with other constructs on the subordinate's intention to whistleblow. Results from the primary experiment indicate that when the leader is not involved in the observed accounting fraud, the subordinate is more likely to whistleblow to the leader if the leader has high emotional intelligence or high group prototypicality. The relationship between leader emotional intelligence and subordinate whistleblowing intention is stronger when the leader has high group prototypicality and is mediated by the subordinate's perceived leader-member exchange, trust in the leader, and job satisfaction. These mediations are stronger as well when the leader has high group prototypicality. In addition to the primary experiment, a supplementary experiment where the leader is involved in the observed accounting fraud demonstrate that the subordinate is less likely to whistleblow on the leader to the anonymous whistleblowing hotline if the leader has high emotional intelligence. Moreover, the subordinate is more likely to whistleblow if the consequence of the action is framed as being positive to the company than being negative to the leader when the leader has high emotional intelligence. Findings of these two experiments have strong practical implications in terms of corporate governance, internal control, and human resource management.