Beyond Job Attitudes: A Personality and Social Psychology Perspective on the Causes of Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Abstract

It is a well-established fact that job attitudes and organizational variables are causally related to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), but it is unlikely that they are the only causes of this important organizational behavior. This article concerns some other possible causes of OCB. On the basis of prior research on OCB and a conceptually related phenomenon-volunteerism-we propose that two kinds of dispositional variables may play significant roles in OCB. The first of these is an individual's motives for engaging in OCB. It is argued that because OCB may serve different needs or motives for different individuals, the measurement of these motives will improve the prediction of OCB. The other dispositional variable is a personality trait-the prosocial personality orientation. Because OCB is a prosocial action and this personality trait involves prosocial thoughts, feelings, and actions, it may predict OCB better than more general personality traits. Data are presented to support the argument that both of the dispositional variables are related to OCB. Finally, it is suggested that engaging in OCB might affect a person's self-concept. Specifically, there is reason to believe it can produce changes in personal identity that are consistent with the role of an organizational citizen. Role identity and the more psychological variables mentioned earlier are integrated into a model of the causes of enduring OCB. In this model, job attitudes, organizational variables, motives, and personality traits all affect initial levels of OCB. This behavior, in turn, influences the extent to which a person develops a role identity as an organizational citizen. And it is this role identity that directly causes enduring levels of OCB. The utility of this model for predicting OCB and increasing the incidence of this behavior is discussed.