Social work leaders' authenticity positively influences their dispositions toward ethical decision-making

0533794 - ÚTIA 2021 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Trnka, R. - Kuška, M. - Tavel, P. - Kuběna, Aleš Antonín
Social work leaders' authenticity positively influences their dispositions toward ethical decision-making.
European Journal of Social Work. Roč. 23, č. 5 (2020), s. 809-825. ISSN 1369-1457. E-ISSN 1468-2664
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GBP402/12/G097
Institutional support: RVO:67985556
Keywords : Social work * ethical behaviour * ethical decision-making * authenticity
OECD category: Psychology (including human - machine relations)
Impact factor: 1.807, year: 2020
Method of publishing: Limited access
http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2020/E/kubena-0533794.pdf https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691457.2019.1608513

The personality traits of social work leaders are important factors influencing ethical decision-making in organizations. The lack of empirical evidence with regard to the relationship between personal authenticity and ethical decision-making in social work stimulated the present study. Two hundred and thirty-eight leaders (81.9% female) from organizations working in various fields of social work were given the Authenticity Scale, Managerial Ethical Profile, and conducted two free association tasks with the cue words authenticity and self. Authenticity was positively correlated with ethical decision-making. In contrast, authenticity was not correlated with the tendency to make decisions in an effort to maximize economic profit for the organization. The results of the present study have important practical implications for the social work sector. The positive correlation of authenticity with ethical decision-making indicates that positive reinforcement of authenticity in leaders could possibly lead to supporting ethical decision-making within an organization. Therefore, supporting authenticity in leaders working in social work may also help foster quality services and prevent unethical behavior.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0312105