Research on the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Continuum and Its Consequences

Abstract

Through literature review and induction from management practices, this paper firstly identifies four subtypes of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), namely altruistic OCB based on personality, responsible OCB based on reciprocity, instrumental OCB based on self-interest, and compulsory OCB based on stress. The four OCB subtypes constitute an OCB continuum in the order of an individual’s degree of voluntariness. Both the positive and negative impacts of the four OCB subtypes on organizations and individuals are analyzed. Conclusions, limitations and future research directions are presented.

Keywords

organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) / altruistic OCB / responsible OCB / instrumental OCB / compulsory OCB

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2014 Higher Education Press and Brill