This paper aims to examine the mediating role of organizational trust in the relationship between ethical leadership and young teachers' work engagement, and the moderating effect of supervisor-subordinate (S-S) guanxi. S-S guanxi is a special interpersonal relationship in Chinese organizations. The sample in this study comprises 205 young teachers from 15 Chinese universities. The results reveal that organizational trust mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and young teachers' work engagement. Moreover, S-S guanxi strengthens the positive relationship between organizational trust and young teachers' work engagement, and the indirect effect of ethical leadership on young teachers' work engagement through organizational trust. Based upon these findings, several theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Keywords: S–S guanxi; ethical leadership; organizational trust; work engagement.