Abstract:  Leader unethical behaviors cause serious damages to organizations, thus it is critical to understand the occurrence mechanisms and antecedents of ethical leadership. The connotation of ethical leadership should include the perceived ethical leadership. Theoretical perspectives on the occurrence of ethical leadership include social learning theory, moral identity theory, personal trait perspective, three-factor model, organizational neuroscience perspective, ethics position theory, CPM theory, and leadership categorization theory. The influencing factors of ethical leadership and perceived ethical leadership include leader personal traits and cognitive factors, subordinates’ justice perception and status, and situational factors. Future research should pay more attention to the empirical research on the influencing factors of ethical leadership.

Key words: ethical leadership, perceived ethical leadership, personal factors, situational factors