Universities worldwide strive to nurture socially responsible graduates to create a
better society. Since ethical behavior of role models can stimulate followers’ professional
standards and ethical values, it is crucial to focus on an appropriate path through which ethical
values can be conveyed and learned by individuals. The current study seeks to examine if this
objective can be facilitated through the positive role played by academic supervisors at higher
education level. Owing to the very close leader-follower relationship, this study empirically
investigated if ethical supervisors could stimulate prosocial behavior among students under
their supervision. Data was collected from 240 postgraduate university students and analyzed
using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings of this study
revealed that students demonstrated greater anonymous, emotional, and compliant prosocial
behavior when they perceived stronger ethical supervision. Study implications and limitations
have been discussed.

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• Leading by example: the influence of ethical supervision on students’ prosocial behavior