The role of employee motives in determining the type and consequences of citizenship behavior: The introduction of the OCB-Intentionality Scale

Abstract

Several decades have passed since organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) began to permeate the organizational sciences. Only recently, however, have scholars begun to critically analyze the motives that drive OCB. The present effort first draws from the extant literature to introduce a typology of nine motives believed to underlie citizenship behavior. Next, two studies report on the development and initial validation of the OCB-Intentionality Scale (OCB-IS), a questionnaire designed to capture the nine motives elucidated in the typology. Study 1 outlines the scale construction and refinement process and establishes construct-related validation evidence through the formation of a nomological network. Study 2 provides further evidence of construct validity and examines the predictive utility of the OCB-IS. Results indicate that each of the nine motives relate in unique ways to individual difference and situational correlates, and that they differentially predict OCB dimensions and employee-relevant OCB outcomes. Implications and future research directions are discussed.