Rethinking Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Debunking Long-Held Beliefs & Revealing New Findings

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) has been studied by numerous researchers, almost as if no stone is left unturned. Yet, despite the concern, scholars are still finding ways to contribute to the OCB literature by challenging its long-held assumptions and finding new discoveries. The purpose of this symposium is to add momentum to the development of this line of research by bringing papers that address a few of the assumptions and identify novel research ideas in the area of OCBs, in particular, OCB directed toward individuals (OCB-I) or helping behavior. Specifically, Kim, Chawla, Doyle, and Shea question the assumption that help is always granted by showing that there are times when help does not manifest (heightened mortality salience), yet also provide a way to encourage helping (intragroup-cohesion) despite the circumstances. Hu, Lin, and Liu also question the assumption that help is always granted by examining the psychological and behavioral outcomes of rejecting help requests. Lee, Koopman, Rosen, Kluemper, Wayne, and Sun question the assumption that help is beneficial for the recipients and show the emotional consequences of receiving help and the downstream negative effect it has on third parties. Lastly, Brooks, Thompson, and Bolino develop and make a unique connection with organization-level factors (perceived organizational support for social justice initiatives) and OCB-I to show that there are still important organizational factors that can contribute to more OCBs in the workplace. The papers in this symposium demonstrate the ways in which researchers can continue to expand the OCB literature in meaningful ways. Helping the hand that bites you Author: Hee Young Kim; Rider U. Author: Nitya Chawla; Texas A&M U. Author: Sarah Doyle; U. of Arizona Author: Catherine Shea; Carnegie Mellon U. - Tepper School of Business Managing prosocial identity threat after saying “no” to coworkers at work Author: Xiaofei Hu; Hong Kong Polytechnic U. Author: Katrina Jia Lin; Hong Kong Polytechnic U. Author: Wu Liu; Hong Kong Polytechnic U. Receiving Help Begets Incivility? The Unexpected Outcome of Receiving Help Author: Young Eun Lee; Florida State U. Author: Joel Koopman; Texas A&M U. Author: Christopher C. Rosen; U. of Arkansas Author: Donald H. Kluemper; Texas Tech U. Author: Sandy J. Wayne; U. of Illinois Chicago Author: Jiaqing Sun; The London School of Economics and Political Science How Employee Race and Gender Influences Perceived Organizational Support for Social Justice Author: Ricardo Brooks; SUNY, Albany Author: Phillip S. Thompson; Virginia Tech Author: Mark C Bolino; U. of Oklahoma