Effects of intrinsic motivation on organizational citizenship behaviors of hospitality employees: The mediating roles of reciprocity and organizational commitment

Abstract The current study examines the essential role of motivation in workplace settings and the interrelationships among, reciprocity, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Based on a comprehensive literature review, this study formulates and tests a hypothesized model attempting to understand the interrelationships among three dimensions of motivation (i.e., need for achievement, need for power, and need for affiliation), reciprocity, three dimensions of organizational commitment (i.e., continuous, affective, and normative), and four types of OCB. With data collected from hospitality employees, this research found three intrinsic motivations are critical for nurturing reciprocity which then enhances three aspects of organizational commitment.