Transformational leadership is characterized by the act of inspiring and motivating individuals to work towards shared objectives by employing charisma, intellectual stimulation, personalized attention, and idealized influence. Transformational leadership inspires followers to accept and participate in order to achieve the vision or perspective offered by the leader, where followers’ motivations go beyond exchanges and rewards and lead to a good teamwork environment (Afshari, 2010). Ethical leadership, on the other hand, can be described as seeking to spread justice by respecting individual characteristics of others, as well as a combination of other qualities such as integrity, trustworthiness, faithfulness, purity, democratic decision-making, and encouraging participation, compassion, and compassionate (Yilmaz & Bokeoglu, 2008).

Transformational leadership and ethical leadership are strongly connected concepts within organizational environments. Studies have indicated that transformational leadership with its ability to inspire and motivate followers towards a shared vision, it has been proven to have a positive impact on the ethical behavior of subordinates. Also, the research conducted by Toor and Ofori (2009) clearly demonstrates the correlation between ethical leadership and transformational leadership. Furthermore, ethical leadership serves as a fundamental component of transformational leadership, prioritizing values and actions above mere adherence to rules. Therefore, drawing from these valuable insights, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H1: It is expected that transformational leadership has a positive relationship with ethical leadership.

Leader conscientiousness refers to the level at which a leader demonstrates traits such as being self-driven, hardworking, and well-organized in their role. It is characterized by a leader’s capacity to be accountable, reliable and concentrated on achieving goals effectively. In 2004, Horn describes a person’s conscience as an essential basis for making moral decisions which means that leader conscientiousness is positively associated with ethical leadership. Also, research has shown that leader conscientiousness is linked to their moral reflection which in turn affects employees’ perception of ethical leadership. Leader conscientiousness is extremely important in promoting ethical leadership behavior and decreasing turnover intention among employees in organizations. The research conducted by Kalshoven et al. (2011) demonstrated that Big Five personality traits affect ethical leadership, with conscientiousness having the most significant impact on ethical leadership, followed by neuroticism, and lastly, agreeableness. Also, the investigative studies conducted by Özbağ (2016), Nguyen and Tran (2020) indicated that leader conscientiousness has a positive impact on ethical leadership. The positive association between leader conscientiousness and ethical leadership emphasizes the significance of having conscientious traits in promoting ethical leadership in teams and organizations. Thus, considering the impact of leader conscientiousness on ethical leadership, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H2: It is expected that leader conscientiousness has a positive relationship with ethical leadership.

Psychological empowerment is a subjective process that involves cognition and attitudes that enable individuals to feel capable, efficient and empowered to complete tasks. It is important in organizations that the employees feel psychological empowered to achieve higher levels of performance. Research emphasized that ethical leadership practices play a crucial role in boosting employees psychological empowerment, resulting in higher job satisfaction and decreased turnover intentions. Also, ethical leadership has a positive impact on psychological empowerment by creating a workplace culture centered on trust, fairness and ethical decision-making. In the present study, it has been shown that ethical leaders lead to psychological empowerment in employees. Previous research by Zhu (2008) offers substantial evidence that ethical leadership has a positive impact on psychological empowerment. Ethical leaders are more likely to prioritize the developmental needs of their employees and place them in roles that allow them to experience a sense of meaning at work (May et al 2004). Overall, ethical leadership is absolutely crucial for driving psychological empowerment within an organization, leading to improved outcomes and greater success for employees. Therefore, based on previous studies, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H3: It is expected that ethical leadership has a positive relationship with psychological empowerment.

Job satisfaction is characterized by the extent of fulfillment that employees experience in their roles. It encompasses more than just their daily tasks, extending to include satisfaction with colleagues and supervisors, contentment with organization policies and the influence of their job on their personal well-being. Effective ethical leadership is absolutely essential for the success of every organization, since ethical leaders serve as the cornerstone of trust within the organization by reassuring that employees feel supported (Zaim, Demir, & Budur, 2021). Also, it inspires employees to strive harder for the growth of the organization. Whereas an effective organization can ensure employee satisfaction by promoting high levels of work performance within them (Sendjaya, Pekerti, Cooper, & Zhu, 2019). Moreover, Brown et al (2005) strongly advocated the significant correlation between ethical leadership and employees’ job satisfaction. Overall, ethical leadership is essential for boosting job satisfaction among employees through creating a positive workplace atmosphere, fostering trust in supervisors and organizational commitment, ultimately leading to improved performance and overall satisfaction levels among employees. Thus, considering the influence of ethical leadership on job satisfaction, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H4: It is expected that ethical leadership has a positive relationship with job satisfaction.

Organizations consistently focus on improving employees’ job satisfaction levels as they firmly believe in the direct correlation between workers’ productivity and their job satisfaction, and this can be significantly enhanced by offering a range of facilities to the employees (Wan Omar & Hussin, 2013). Employee job satisfaction is widely recognized by numerous researchers as a crucial dependent variable within human resource management. It is imperative to acknowledge that a lack of satisfaction among employees can lead to various detrimental outcomes such as heightened rates of absenteeism, tardiness, employee turnover and acts of sabotage. By fostering psychological empowerment, organizations can greatly enhance job satisfaction, leading to improved overall employee well-being and performance. Research has consistently shown that when employees feel empowered, they are more likely to experience higher levels of job satisfaction. In the majority of research papers, it has been consistently demonstrated that fostering employee empowerment yields a significant and beneficial influence on enhancing employee job satisfaction (Bordin, Bartram, & Casimir, 2006; Holdsworth & Cartwright, 2003; Pelit, Öztürk, & Arslantürk, 2011). Overall, fostering psychological empowerment in the workplace is crucial as it can result in heightened job satisfaction and stronger organizational commitment. This, in turn, plays a vital role in enhancing employee retention rates and driving overall organizational success. Thus, acknowledging the impact of psychological empowerment on job satisfaction, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H5: It is expected that psychological empowerment has a positive relationship with job satisfaction.

Employee turnover is a critical issue that arises when an employee decides to depart from an organization. In some literature, turnover intention is influenced by two key factors: external and internal factors (Garkovich, 1994). One crucial internal factor influencing employee turnover intentions is psychological empowerment, as highlighted by various researchers (Islam, Munawar, & Bukhari, 2015; Griffeth, Hom & Gardner, 2000; Meyerson & Kline, 2008; Nawawi, Hussain, Ramli, Sulaiman, & Razali, 2015). When employees feel psychologically empowered, this will motivate them to stay in the organization which leads to decrease the turnover intention. Employees who possess a high level of psychological empowerment are equipped with a powerful mindset that significantly influences their satisfaction, dedication, productivity, service delivery, commitment to the organization and retention (Bester, Stander, Van Zyl, 2015). This relationship is significant as it highlights the importance of psychological empowerment in the workplace that enhances the productivity and employee retention. Therefore, based on these insights, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H6: It is expected that psychological empowerment has a negative relationship with turnover intention.

In order for the company to successfully reach its goals, it is crucial for the company to prioritize and effectively support its employees. This will ensure that highly qualified employees within the company are motivated to stay and are not inclined to seek opportunities elsewhere (reduce turnover intention). Job satisfaction is crucial for attracting and retaining employees and maintaining job satisfaction not only boosts employee loyalty but also helps prevent turnover intention. In addition, enhancing job satisfaction has the power to alleviate work-related stress, ultimately resulting in a decrease in the employee’s intention to leave his or her job. (Manurung and Ratnawati 2012) argue convincingly that maintaining high job satisfaction levels is key to reducing turnover rates, conversely, when job satisfaction is low, turnover rates are likely to be high. Understanding and improving job satisfaction are essential strategies for organizations to reduce turnover rates and minimize related expenses. Thus, based on these insights, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H7: It is expected that job satisfaction has a negative relationship with turnover intention.

The study’s population encompasses all employees across governmental and private sectors in Saudi Arabia. Every questionnaire sent to the research sample has been promptly received. A total of 230 employees from diverse governmental and private sectors in Saudi Arabia were randomly selected.

To obtain the necessary information for this study, we rely on secondary sources like books, journals, statistics and web pages. Furthermore, apart from the initial sources that were not found in secondary sources, we gather data by distributing questionnaires to the target population to get their insights on the “antecedents and consequences of ethical leadership”. The research methodology depends on analyzing the data through descriptive and analytical methods utilizing poll and the main software program (SPSS V26).

All the variables were carefully assessed using a five-point Likert scale, encompassing opinions from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The questionnaire consisted of 27 items, all of which were drawn straight from reliable, valid questionnaires that had been used in previous studies.

In this study, we rely on descriptive statistics, including Frequencies, Percentages, Mean, Standard deviation, and Figure in order to reveal valuable insights. Also, we used correlation coefficients to uphold the validity and internal consistency of the research findings, and Coefficients of Cronbach’s alpha to ensure the reliability of study’s outcomes. Furthermore, we used a statistical software that is called Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 26), and (AMOS V26) to test the hypotheses within the study model.