Beyond Direct and Symmetrical Effects: The Influence of Demographic Dissimilarity on Organizational Citizenship Behavior

It is argued that employees' attraction to and trust in their peers, and their organization-based self-esteem mediate the effect of demographic dissimilarity on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Data from a field study support a model in which the relationship between demographic dissimilarity and OCB is contingent on demographic characteristics and work group composition and mediated to an extent by the proposed mediators. The influence of race dissimilarity varied in strength for white and minority employees, but the influence of age dissimilarity varied in direction for older and younger employees.