Organizational Citizenship Behavior
The following is an excerpt from “More about Generosity: An Addendum to the Generosity, Social Psychology and Philanthropy Literature Reviews,” (University of Notre Dame, July 7, 2009).
Chen, Chun-Hsi Vivian, Shih-Jon Wang, Wei-Chieh Chang, and Chin-Shin Hu. 2008.“The effect of leader-member exchange, trust, supervisor support on organizational citizenship behavior in nurses.” Journal of Nursing Research 16(4):321-328.
This study examined from a social exchange perspective the influence of leader-member exchange (LMX) on the trust of subordinates in their supervisors as well as their perception of support received from their medical organization supervisors and the subsequent effect of such on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in subordinates. Two hundred valid supervisor-subordinate (head nurses-nurses) dyads from 3 medical centers and 3 regional hospitals took part in this study, which found that the quality of leader-member exchange affects nurse trust in their supervisors as well as their perception of supervisor support, which consequently promotes OCB on the part of nurses. Findings imply that a higher level of LMX can enhance nurses’ commitment, significantly reduce turnover, and promote their OCB, resulting in greater organizational effectiveness.
Chen, Yi-Jung, Cheng-Chen Lin, Yu-Chuan Tung, and Yuan-ta Ko. 2008.“Associations of organizational justice and ingratiation with Organizational Citizenship Behavior.: The beneficiary perspective.” Social Behavior and Personality 36(3):289-302.
In this study we investigated whether the two motivational forces – social exchange and impression management – behind Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) proposed by Bolino (1999) would be associated differently with an individual’s OCB toward a coworker, supervisor, and organization. Organizational justice and ingratiation represented the social exchange and impression management motives, respectively. Based on the data collected from managers, colleagues, and employees, the results of a total sample size of 529 questionnaires showed that both ingratiation and perception of organizational justice were positively associated with individuals’ OCB toward their supervisors. However, for individuals performing OCB toward their jobs, only the perception of distributive justice showed a positive correlation, and neither motive was positively associated with individuals’ OCB toward their coworkers.
Cohen, Aaron. 2007. “One nation, many cultures: A cross-cultural study of the relationship between personal cultural values and commitment in the workplace to in-role performance and organizational citizenship behavior.” Cross-Cultural Research 41(3):273-300.
This study examines the relationship between commitment forms (organizational commitment, occupational commitment, job involvement, work involvement, and group commitment), personal cultural values (individualism— collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity— femininity), and in-role performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). Five groups of Israeli teachers who were assumed to represent different cultural groups (secular Jews, orthodox Jews, kibbutz teachers, Druze, and Arabs) were examined. The findings showed substantial differences among the five groups in the four cultural values. Both membership in a cultural group, measured as a dummy variable, and cultural values were associated with OCB and in-role performance in addition to the effect of multiple commitments. The results also showed that organizational commitment and group commitment were related to forms of OCB more than to the other commitment foci. The findings and their implications for the continuation of research on commitment and culture are discussed.
Cohen, Aaron, and Danny Keren. 2008. “Individual values and social exchange variables: Examining their relationship to and mutual effect on organizational citizenship behavior.” Group & Organization Management 33(4):425-452.
This study examines the relationship between individual values and organizational commitment and the joint effect of commitment dimensions and individual values on employees’ in-role performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The sample includes 539 secular Israeli teachers employed in 20 secular schools. The OCB data were provided by each school’s principal. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed individual values, particularly collectivism, were related to affective and normative commitment above and beyond the effect of organizational justice. The findings also showed that individual values were related to three of the behavioral outcomes, also above and beyond the effect of the social exchange variables. The relationship of commitment forms to in-role performance and OCB was rather weak and raises some questions about the utility of organizational commitment in predicting these outcomes. The findings’ implications for the continuation of research on the relationship between individual values and workplace attitudes and behaviors are discussed.
Euwema, Martin C., Hein Wendt, and Hetty van Emmerik. 2007. “Leadership styles and group organizational behavior across cultures.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 28(8):1035-1057.
This study investigates (a) the effects of societal culture on group organizational citizenship behavior (GOCB), and (b) the moderating role of culture on the relationship between directive and supportive leadership and GOCB. Data were collected from 20 336 managers and 95 893 corresponding team members in 33 countries. Multi-level analysis was used to test the hypotheses, and culture was operationalized using two dimensions of Hofstede (2001) and GLOBE (2004): Individualism (IDV) and power distance (PD). There was no direct relationship between these cultural dimensions and GOCB. Directive leadership had a negative relation, and supportive leadership a positive relation with GOCB. Culture moderated this relationship: Directive leadership was more negatively, and supportive behavior less positively, related to GOCB in individualistic compared to collectivistic societies. The moderating effects of societal PD were explained by societal IDV.
Farrell, Sarah K., and Lisa M. Finkelstein. 2007. “Organizational citizenship behavior and gender: Expectations and attributes for performance.” North American Journal of Psychology 9(1):81-95.
Recent research suggests that women are more likely to participate in the helping dimension of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) whereas men are more likely to participate in the civic virtue dimension. Three laboratory studies were conducted to test the hypotheses that observers expect employees to participate in gender-congruent OCBs and that, when exhibited, observers are more likely to attribute gender-incongruent OCBs than gender-congruent OCBs to impression management motives. Results indicated that OCBs in general were expected more of women than of men. Only under specific conditions were OCB-civic virtue behaviors expected more of men. Additionally, participants were more likely to attribute men’s OCB than women’s OCB to impression management motives. Implications and future research suggestions are discussed.
Fassina, Neil E., David A. Jones, and Krista L. Uggerslev. 2007. “Meta-analytic tests of relationships between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior: Testing agent-system and shared-variance models.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 29(6):805-828.
Research on the unique effects of different types of perceived fairness on citizenship behavior that benefits individuals (organizational citizenship behavior (OCB-I) and organizations (OCB-O) has produced mixed results. We assert that how OCB-O and OCB-I are conceptualized affects the patterns of results, and we hypothesize that, when OCB is conceptualized appropriately, an agent-system model is supported (interactional and procedural justice are the strongest unique predictors of OCB-I and OCB-O, respectively). We also hypothesize that shared variance among the justice types explains additional variance in OCB. Analyses of semi- partial correlations conducted on meta-analytic coefficients supported our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Ilies, Remus, Jennifer D. Nahrgang, and Frederick P. Morgeson. 2007. “Leader-member exchange and citizenship behaviors: A meta-analysis.” Journal of Applied Psychology 92(1):269-277.
This article provides a meta-analytic review of the relationship between the quality of leader-member exchanges (LMX) and citizenship behaviors performed by employees. Results based on 50 independent samples (N = 9,324) indicate a moderately strong, positive relationship between LMX and citizenship behaviors (?=.37). The results also support the moderating role of the target of the citizenship behaviors on the magnitude of the LMX-citizenship behavior relationship. As expected, LMX predicted individual-targeted behaviors more strongly than it predicted organizational targeted behaviors (? = .38 vs. ? = .31), and the difference was statistically significant. Whether the LMX and the citizenship behavior ratings were provided by the same source or not also influenced the magnitude of the correlation between the 2 constructs.
Ishak, Noormala Amir, and Syed Shah Alam. 2009. “The effects of leader-member exchange on organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior: Empirical study.” European Journal of Social Sciences 8(2):324-334.
On numerous occasions it has been suggested that organizational justice plays a significant role in determining organizational citizenship behavior. In this study, we examine the relationships of organizational justice, organizational citizenship behavior and leadermember exchange among non-supervisory employees and supervisors in the banking organizations in Malaysia. Leader–member exchange as a mediator in the relationship was also examined. Results indicated that interactional justice contributed to the performance of altruism and consideration through leader–member exchange. These results are consistent with the social exchange theory. Procedural justice and distributive justice did not contribute to subordinates performing organizational citizenship behavior. Implications of the results are discussed.
Kadar, D., and L. Van Dyne. 2007. “The joint effects of personality and workplace social exchange relationships in predicting task performance and workplace performance. Journal of Applied Psychology 92(5):1286-1298.
This field study examines the joint effects of social exchange relationships at work (leader-member exchange and team-member exchange) and employee personality (conscientiousness and agreeableness) in predicting task performance and citizenship performance. Consistent with trait activation theory, matched data on 230 employees, their coworkers, and their supervisors demonstrated interactions in which high quality social exchange relationships weakened the positive relationships between personality and performance. Results demonstrate the benefits of consonant predictions in which predictors and outcomes are matched on the basis of specific targets. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.
Lin, Chieh-Peng. 2008. “Clarifying the relationship between organizational citizenship behaviors, gender, and knowledge sharing in workplace organizations in Taiwan.” Journal of Business and Psychology 22(3):241-250.
This study examines the relationships between organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and knowledge sharing using gender as a moderator. In the proposed model, five components of OCBs—altruism, courtesy, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, and civic virtue—influence knowledge sharing. Gender stereotypes have a moderating effect on each path and a main effect on each antecedent. These moderating effects are simultaneously examined using data obtained from employees at various companies who attend evening college classes for advanced study in Taiwan. A moderating test reveals that the influence of altruism on knowledge sharing is stronger for women than for men, while the influences of courtesy and sportsmanship on knowledge sharing are stronger for men than for women. Lastly, the influences of conscientiousness and civic virtue on knowledge sharing are similar between women and men. Implications of empirical findings are also discussed.
Mayer, Brad W., Katherine A. Fraccastoro and Lisa D. McNary. 2007. “The relationship among organizational-based self esteem and various factors motivating volunteers.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 36(2):327-340.
Organizational-based self-esteem (OBSE) reflects the perception individuals have of themselves as important, meaningful, effectual, and worthwhile within their organization. Employees with high OBSE participate in activities valued by their organization and in other organization-related behaviors that will benefit the organization to display organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of OBSE on the extent of voluntarism and the perceived motives behind why individuals volunteer. Using survey research, this study tested eight hypotheses and found six relating OBSE to the amount of time volunteered and the reasons for volunteering.The implications for organizations and employees are discussed.
Podsakoff, Nathan P., Stephen W. Whiting, Philip M. Podaskoff, and Brian D. Blume. 2009. “Individual and organizational-level consequences of organizational citizenship behaviors: A meta-analysis.” Journal of Applied Psychology 94(1):122-141.
Although one of the main reasons for the interest in organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) is the potential consequences of these behaviors, no study has been reported that summarizes the research regarding the relationships between OCBs and their outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a meta-analytic examination of the relationships between OCBs and a variety of individual- and organizational-level outcomes. Results, based on 168 independent samples (N = 51,235 individuals), indicated that OCBs are related to a number of individual-level outcomes, including managerial ratings of employee performance, reward allocation decisions, and a variety of withdrawal-related criteria (e.g., employee turnover intentions, actual turnover, and absenteeism). In addition, OCBs were found to be related (k = 38; N = 3,611 units) to a number of organizational-level outcomes (e.g., productivity, efficiency, reduced costs, customer satisfaction, and unit-level turnover). Of interest, somewhat stronger relationships were observed between OCBs and unit-level performance measures in longitudinal studies than in cross-sectional studies, providing some evidence that OCBs are causally related to these criteria. The implications of these findings for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.
Van Dick, Rolf, Daan van Knippenberg, Rudolf Kerschreiter, Guido Hertel and Jan Wieseke. 2008. “Interactive effects of work group and organizational identification on job satisfaction and extra-role behavior.” Journal of Vocational Behavior 72(3):388-399.
Past research has focused on the differential relationships of organizational and work group identification with attitudes and behavior. However, no systematic effort has been undertaken yet to explore interactive effects between these foci of identification. We predicted that in cases of positive overlap of identifications (i.e. high work group and organizational identification) identifications are more strongly associated with employee job satisfaction and extra-role behavior than when only one of the identifications is high—that is, the one identification augments the influence of the other. These hypotheses were tested and supported with data from two samples of bank employees (N = 358) and travel agency employees (N = 308).
Vigoda-Gadot, Eran. 2007. “Redrawing the boundaries of OCB? An empirical examination of compulsory extra-role behavior in the workplace.” Journal of Business and Psychology 21(3):377-405.
Contemporary literature on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) has primarily focused on the positive connotations of the “good soldier syndrome.” Most of the studies published in recent decades about OCB have pointed to the benefits and advantages of voluntary helping behaviors, pro-social behavior, and extra-role behavior. In contrast with this view we suggest a different look at OCB by focusing on the exploitative and abusive tendency of supervisors and managements to impose so-called “voluntary” or “extra-role” activities via compulsory mechanisms in the workplace. Mostly, we are interested in empirically testing the relationship between such behaviors and employees’ performance. We follow the approach suggested by Vigoda-Gadot (Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 2006) to argue that such behaviors are a substantial deviation from the original meaning of OCB and thus should be recognized and analyzed separately. Our arguments are based on an exploratory study conducted in 13 Israeli schools. Of the 206 teachers who participated in the study, a substantial majority of 75% reported feeling strong pressure to engage in what we usually define as OCB, but should actually be defined as Compulsory Citizenship Behavior (CCB). The findings are discussed in light of present knowledge about OCB, and the implications question the normally positive image of this behavior.
Whiting, Steven W., Philip M. Podsakoff, and Jason R. Pierce. 2008. “Effects of task performance, helping, voice, and organizational loyalty on performance appraisal ratings.” Journal of Applied Psychology 93(1):125-139.
Despite the fact that several studies have investigated the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and performance appraisal ratings, the vast majority of these studies have been cross-sectional, correlational investigations conducted in organizational settings that do not allow researchers to establish the causal nature of this relationship. To address this lack of knowledge regarding causality, the authors conducted 2 studies designed to investigate the effects of task performance, helping behavior, voice, and organizational loyalty on performance appraisal evaluations. Findings demonstrated that each of these forms of behavior has significant effects on performance evaluation decisions and suggest that additional attention should be directed at both voice and organizational loyalty as important forms of citizenship behavior aimed at the organization.
Wu, Wei-Li, Chien-Hsin Lin, Bi-Fen Hus, and Ryh-Song Yeh. 2009. “Interpersonal Trust and Knowledge Sharing: Moderating Effects of Individual Altruism and a Social Interaction Environment.” Social Behavior and Personality 37(1):83-94.
The relationship between interpersonal trust and knowledge sharing was explored, along with the impact of individual altruism and a social interaction environment. Participants were employees in Taiwanese high-tech industries. Employees perceived interpersonal trust, of either their colleagues or supervisor, was found to be positively correlated with their knowledge-sharing behaviors in the workplace. Employees altruism traits were found to be a factor for them to share knowledge in the workplace and the trait of altruism was also found to reduce the positive association between trust of colleagues and knowledge sharing. An organizational social interaction environment intensifies the positive association between trust of colleagues and knowledge sharing. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study are discussed. (PsycInfo)
Zagencyk, Thomas J., Ray Gibney, Audrey J. Murrell, and Scott R. Boss. 2008. “Friends don’t make friends good citizens, but advisors do.” Group and Organization Management 33(6):360-380.
The authors explore whether employees’ willingness to perform organization citizenship behavior (OCB), or go “above and beyond” what is required by their jobs, is affected by social influence. The authors draw on social information processing and social learning theories to argue that OCB is contagious, or affected by the OCB of employees with whom a focal employee maintains social network ties. A study of admissions department employees reveals that strong advice ties between employees are positively and significantly related to similarity in OCB, whereas strong friendship ties and weak ties are not. Implications for research and practice, including suggestions for influencing ethical behavior in organizations, are discussed.
Zoghbi Manrique de Lara, Pablo, and Tomas F. Espino Rodriguez. Organizational anomie as moderator of the relationship between an unfavorable attitudinal environment and citizenship behavior (OCB): An empirical study among university administration and services personnel.” Personnel Review 36(6):843-866.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between an unfavorable attitudinal environment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The proposed model suggests that organizational anomie (OA) acts as a moderator of that link, and thus OA interacts with unfavorable attitudes and OCB by tightening their theoretical negative association.