Unethical behaviours, leadership, and gender in the village development programme : the case of rural Sri Lanka

This study examines whether leaders’ unethical behaviours discourage people from participating in activities initiated by community-based programmes, and whether the impact of unethical leadership is moderated by the genders of leaders and community members. We conducted a vignette experiment with 1,421 respondents in rural Sri Lanka. We find that village residents perceive: (1) leaders’ unethical conduct discourages residents’ intention to engage in community activities and (2) leaders’ unethical conduct reduces female residents’ engagement more than male residents’, regardless of leaders’ gender. The findings underscore the importance of addressing the low motivation issue, particularly among women, to engage in community activities.