Does Honesty–Humility influence evaluations of leadership emergence? The mediating role of moral disengagement

•The link between Honesty–Humility and leadership emergence was examined.•Moral disengagement was proposed as a mediatory mechanism.•Honesty–Humility was negatively linked to moral disengagement.•Moral disengagement was negatively linked to leadership emergence.•Honesty–Humility was indirectly related to leadership emergence through moral disengagement.

The present study examined the relationship between Honesty–Humility and leadership emergence. We proposed that individuals who are low on Honesty–Humility would be more likely to utilize moral disengagement. In turn, moral disengagement would be negatively related to perceptions of leadership emergence. The hypotheses were tested using a multi-source, time-lagged cross-sectional research design. Data were collected from two samples of undergraduate business students working in groups of 4–6 (N = 237 and N = 209). The results generally showed that Honesty–Humility did not have a significant direct effect on leadership emergence. However, bootstrapping analyses revealed that individuals with low levels of Honesty–Humility were more likely to utilize moral disengagement, which, in turn, resulted in lower self- and peer evaluations of leadership emergence. These observed indirect effects of Honesty–Humility on leadership emergence through moral disengagement were fully replicated in the second sample. The present study also demonstrated the usefulness of the HEXACO model for understanding individual differences in moral disengagement. The implications of these findings are discussed.