Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Abstract

The Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) measure was originally developed by Smith, Organ, and Near in 1983. This instrument consists of 16 items designed to assess two primary dimensions of discretionary organizational behavior that exceed formal job requirements: altruism and generalized compliance. Altruism focuses on personally helping specific co-workers, such as offering assistance with heavy workloads or covering for absences. Generalized compliance, conversely, measures impersonal, dutiful behaviors that benefit the organization generally, including adherence to rules, punctuality, and efficient use of time.

The scale captures actions that are voluntary and not formally rewarded, yet are crucial for maintaining the social and psychological environment of the workplace and enhancing overall organizational effectiveness.

Keywords

Organizational Citizenship Behavior, OCB, Altruism, Generalized Compliance, Organizational Behavior, Job Performance, Leader-Member Exchange, Affective Commitment.

Authors

C. A. Smith, D. W. Organ, J. P. Near

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Organizational Citizenship Behavior scale is to systematically measure employee behaviors that are discretionary and not explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, yet contribute significantly to the effective functioning of the organization. By quantifying behaviors across the dimensions of altruism and generalized compliance, researchers can better understand the antecedents and consequences of these helpful and dutiful actions in workplace settings.

The scale aids in differentiating between standard task performance and contextual performance, providing a more comprehensive view of employee contributions. It is frequently utilized in organizational psychology research to examine relationships between individual attitudes, leadership quality, organizational support, and overall organizational effectiveness.

Construct

The OCB scale measures the construct of Organizational Citizenship Behavior, which encompasses voluntary actions that promote the social and psychological environment of the workplace. The 16 items are empirically divided into two distinct, yet related, sub-constructs:

• Altruism: Defined as helping behaviors directed towards specific individuals within the organization, such as aiding a co-worker who has been absent or assisting a supervisor with their duties. This dimension reflects interpersonal helpfulness and courtesy.
• Generalized Compliance: Defined as conscientious, dutiful behaviors directed toward the organization as a whole. This includes adhering strictly to organizational rules, demonstrating punctuality, maintaining high attendance, and minimizing wasted time. This dimension reflects adherence to organizational standards and internal motivation.

Validity

The validity of the Altruism dimension was established through its demonstrated empirical relationships with several key organizational variables. Positively correlated factors included generalized compliance, developmental experiences, promotions, supervisor’s liking for an employee, perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange (LMX), affective commitment, and employee performance ratings (Cropanzano et al., 1997; Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997).

Furthermore, Altruism demonstrated a negative correlation with intentions to quit, indicating that employees who engage in higher levels of OCB are less likely to leave the organization. These established correlations support the construct validity by showing that OCB operates within the expected nomological network of organizational attitudes and outcomes.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the OCB scale dimensions has been consistently reported as high across multiple studies. For the Altruism dimension, the Coefficient alpha values ranged robustly from 0.86 to 0.91. The Generalized Compliance dimension also exhibited excellent internal consistency, with a reported alpha value of 0.91 (Cropanzano, Howes, Grandey, & Toth, 1997; Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997).

These high Coefficient alpha coefficients suggest that the items within each respective subscale reliably and consistently measure their intended latent construct, confirming the instrument’s strong internal consistency and utility for research purposes.

Factor Analysis

Factor analytical studies have been critical in confirming the distinct nature of the OCB dimensions. Wayne, Shore, and Liden (1997) found through factor analysis that the Altruism dimension was empirically distinct from both general employee performance ratings and a supervisor’s subjective liking for an employee.

This finding is essential as it supports the discriminant validity of the OCB construct, ensuring that the scale measures genuine discretionary citizenship behavior rather than merely reflecting overall job performance or supervisory bias. The initial development and subsequent validation support the two-factor structure (Altruism and Generalized Compliance) underlying the 16 items.

Instrument

Test Type: Organizational Psychology Scale (Typically Peer or Supervisor Rating)

Format: 16 items measured on a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = never and 7 = always. Includes reverse-scored items (R).

Language Available: English (Original)

Population Group: Employees, Co-workers, Supervisors, and Managers in organizational settings.

Age Group: Working adults (typically 18+)

Population Details: Applicable across various industries and organizational contexts where discretionary helpful behaviors are relevant.

Test Methodology: The respondent is typically asked to rate the frequency of behaviors exhibited by a specific colleague or subordinate, thereby minimizing social desirability bias associated with self-report measures of citizenship behavior.

Keywords

Workplace, Conscientiousness, Employee Behavior, Reliability, Validity, Smith Organ Near, Organizational Performance.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1983 (Original publication)

Permissions: The original scale was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology and is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association (APA). Use generally requires acknowledgment and adherence to APA copyright guidelines, especially for commercial or large-scale research applications.

Fee: Fee and licensing requirements should be verified directly with the copyright holder (APA) or the authors, as specific current cost information is not available in the original source material.

Reference’s

• Cropanzano, R., Howes, J. C., Grandey, L. L., & Toth, P. (1997). The relationship of organizational politics and support to work behaviors, attitudes, and stress. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 18, 159–180.
• Smith, C. A., Organ, D. W., & Near, J. P. (1983). Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature and antecedents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 653-663.
• Wayne, S. J., Shore, L. M., & Liden, R. C. (1997). Perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange: A social exchange perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 40, 82-111.

Items of the Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Responses are obtained using a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = never and 7 = always. The respondent is asked to think about someone who works or has worked for or with the respondent.

Altruism items:

1. Helps others who have been absent
2. Volunteers for things that are not required
3. Orients new people even though it is not required
4. Helps others who have heavy workloads
5. Assists supervisor with his or her work
6. Makes innovative suggestions to improve department
7. Attends functions not required but that help the company image

Generalized compliance items:

8. Punctuality
9. Takes undeserved breaks (R)
10. Attendance at work is above the norm
11. Coasts toward the end of the day (R)
12. Gives advance notice if unable to come to work
13. Great deal of time spent with personal phone conversations (R)
14. Does not take unnecessary time off work
15. Does not take extra breaks
16. Does not spend time in idle conversation

Items denoted with (R) are reverse scored.