Underlying Motives of Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Comparing Egoistic and Altruistic Motivations

This study examined organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) from a motivational perspective by investigating two underlying motives of employee OCB: egoism and altruism. Drawing on Batson’s theory of motivation, employee felt obligation and altruistic concern were explored as underlying motives for citizenship behavior directed toward the organization (OCBO) and supervisor (OCBS). A model of the antecedents and outcomes of these motives was tested with a sample of 164 employee–supervisor dyads. Interestingly, in a structural equation model representing meditational effects, altruistic concern but not felt obligation predicted OCBO, while felt obligation but not altruistic concern predicted OCBS. Altruistic concern fully mediated the relation between person–organization fit and OCBO and between perceived organizational support and OCBO. Felt obligation partially mediated the relationship between leader–member exchange and OCBS. Implications of the results for practice and future OCB motive research are discussed.