Helping in the eyes of the beholder: The impact of OCB type and fluctuation in OCB on coworker perceptions and evaluations of helpful employees

Abstract

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is often hailed for its positive linkages to individual outcomes and organizational effectiveness. Despite these findings, research on OCB often fails to consider how an individual's past OCB may influence the outcomes stemming from current OCB performance. Such a contextually bland image truncates our understanding of the impact of these behaviors. Furthermore, the theories that drive literature on OCB (e.g., social exchange, expectancy, and conservation of resources) are socially focused. However, there is limited research examining how coworkers' responses to others' OCBs, in light of past OCB performance, may alter the nature of their perceptions and behavioral reactions to changes in OCB. Recent literature on OCB also calls for consolidation of OCB-related typologies, but few efforts test the efficacy of composite frameworks. Accordingly, this effort investigates the impact that fluctuations (increase vs. decreases) in different types of OCB (orientation vs. direction) have on coworker perceptions and responses to OCB performers. This effort also explored the impact that coworker's assumptions regarding another employee's motivations for OCB has on the outcomes that stem from OCB. Limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.