Examining the relationship between youth and sports services department employees' perception of ethical leadership, perception of organizational classism, perception of ethical climate and job satisfaction levels

In this thesis, In this thesis, it is aimed to examine the relationship between the perception of ethical leadership, perception of organizational ethical climate, perception of organizational cynicism and job satisfaction levels of the employees of the Department of Youth and Sports Services. In this context, the mediating function of organizational ethical climate and organizational cynicism in the effect of ethical leadership on job satisfaction was analyzed. In the study, the data collected from 623 employees working within the Department of Youth and Sports Services of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality were analyzed. The research data were collected through five different measurement tools measuring demographic variables and the dimensions of ethical leadership, organizational ethical climate, organizational cynicism and job satisfaction within the scope of the study, which was designed in the relational survey model. SPSS and AMOS software were used to test the research model; regression and correlation analyses, reliability analysis, t-test and ANOVA were applied to the data set. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique was used to test the hypotheses. As a result, no significant relationship was found between the job satisfaction level of the personnel working in the Youth and Sports Services Department depending on gender, average monthly personal income level and professional service duration variables; however, a significant positive relationship was found between the levels of ethical leadership and organizational ethical climate, and a significant negative relationship was found between the level of organizational cynicism. Depending on the variables of doing regular active sports and average monthly family income level, a significant positive relationship was found between ethical leadership, organizational ethical climate and job satisfaction levels, and a significant negative relationship was found between organizational cynicism level. In addition, it was determined that organizational ethical climate has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction and organizational cynicism has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction. The results of the study show that there is a statistically significant relationship between the variables of ethical leadership, organizational ethical climate, organizational cynicism and job satisfaction of the staff working in the Department of Youth and Sports Services. According to the findings of the study, it was concluded that as the ethical leadership levels of individuals increase, organizational ethical climate and job satisfaction levels will increase, while organizational cynicism levels will decrease. Keywords: Ethical leadership, organizational ethical climate, organizational cynicism, job satisfaction, metropolitan municipality, structural equation modeling.