Correction to "When ethical leader behavior breaks bad: How ethical leader behavior can turn abusive via ego depletion and moral licensing" by Lin et al. (2016).

Reports an error in "When ethical leader behavior breaks bad: How ethical leader behavior can turn abusive via ego depletion and moral licensing" by Szu-Han (Joanna) Lin, Jingjing Ma and Russell E. Johnson (Journal of Applied Psychology, 2016[Jun], Vol 101[6], 815-830; see record 2016-06820-001). In the article, several root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) values were incorrectly reported. The authors no longer have access to the data to verify against the original output but confirmed that corrections were required after manual recalculations. In all cases, the correct RMSEA is higher than what is reported in the published article. On page 820 (Study 1, Mediating Mechanisms section), the correct RMSEA value is .089, 90% confidence interval (CI) [.008, .160], for the single-factor model, χ² (5) = 11.18, comparative fit index (CFI) = .99, standardized root-mean-square residual (SRMR) = .02. Also, on page 820 (Study 1, Results section), the correct RMSEA value is .076, 90% CI [.068, .084], and the correct CFI is .90 for the five-factor measurement model, χ² (424) = 790.34, SRMR = .06. Based on these corrected values, this a priori five-factor measurement model provided an adequate fit to the data. On page 821 (Study 1, Results section), the correct RMSEA value is .096, 90% CI [.067, .126], for the hypothesized path model, χ² (29) = 69.37, CFI = .93, SRMR = .06. On page 823 (Study 2, Results section), the correct RMSEA value is .078, 90% CI [.031, .121], for the hypothesized path model, χ² (19) = 33.62, CFI = .93, SRMR = .06. These corrections did not alter any of the article's conclusions. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2016-06820-001). The literature to date has predominantly focused on the benefits of ethical leader behaviors for recipients (e.g., employees and teams). Adopting an actor-centric perspective, in this study we examined whether exhibiting ethical leader behaviors may come at some cost to leaders. Drawing from ego depletion and moral licensing theories, we explored the potential challenges of ethical leader behavior for actors. Across 2 studies which employed multiwave designs that tracked behaviors over consecutive days, we found that leaders' displays of ethical behavior were positively associated with increases in abusive behavior the following day. This association was mediated by increases in depletion and moral credits owing to their earlier displays of ethical behavior. These results suggest that attention is needed to balance the benefits of ethical leader behaviors for recipients against the challenges that such behaviors pose for actors, which include feelings of mental fatigue and psychological license and ultimately abusive interpersonal behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).