The Relationship Between Ethical Leadership, Anonymous Reporting, Rewards and Whistleblowing Intention: The Mediating Role of Trust

Ng, Huey Huey (2026) The Relationship Between Ethical Leadership, Anonymous Reporting, Rewards and Whistleblowing Intention: The Mediating Role of Trust. Masters thesis, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

The effectiveness of whistleblowing mechanisms is increasingly critical for strengthening organisational integrity and governance, particularly in addressing misconduct and unethical practices. Despite its importance, employees often remain reluctant to report wrongdoing due to perceived risks and uncertainty regarding organisational support. This highlights a critical research gap, as prior studies provide insufficient examination of organisational factors influencing whistleblowing intention, while the underlying psychological mechanisms remain underexplored. This study addresses this gap by developing and testing an integrated model that examines the influence of ethical leadership, anonymous reporting and rewards on whistleblowing intention, with trust modelled as a mediating mechanism. Grounded in Social Exchange Theory (SET), Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX) and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (MHN), the study adopts a quantitative cross-sectional design, with data collected through a structured survey and analysed using SPSS and the Hayes PROCESS Macro. The findings indicate that ethical leadership and rewards significantly enhance whistleblowing intention, whereas anonymous reporting does not demonstrate the expected positive effect. Ethical leadership and rewards are also positively associated with trust, while anonymous reporting shows an inverse relationship. Trust, in turn, significantly influences whistleblowing intention and mediates the relationships between the examined organisational factors and whistleblowing intention. Overall, the study offers a more integrated understanding of whistleblowing intention by linking organisational influences with a key psychological process. The findings provide practical insights for organisations to strengthen whistleblowing mechanisms through ethical leadership, trust-building practices and carefully designed reporting systems and reward structures.