How do Ethical Leaders Promote Employees' Feedback-Seeking Behaviours? A Serial Mediation Model

This study explores how ethical leadership fosters employees' feedback-seeking behaviours. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, the research identifies intrinsic motivation and affective commitment as key mediators through which ethical leaders encourage proactive feedback-seeking. The findings reveal that ethical leadership positively influences employees' intrinsic motivation and affective commitment to the organisation, which in turn enhances their tendency to feedback – an essential behaviour in dynamic and quality-sensitive work environments such as manufacturing. To empirically test this model, a crosssectional survey was conducted among 422 employees at a large manufacturing plant in Manisa, Türkiye. The results support a serial mediation model, confirming that ethical leadership indirectly promotes feedback-seeking behaviours through increased intrinsic motivation and affective commitment.