Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale

Abstract

The Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) scale, developed by Moorman and Blakely in 1995, is a 19-item measure designed to assess voluntary, discretionary employee behaviors that contribute positively to the organization’s welfare but are not explicitly required by formal job descriptions. This instrument delineates four core dimensions of OCB: Interpersonal Helping, Individual Initiative, Personal Industry, and Loyal Boosterism.

The scale items utilize a 7-point Likert-type scale format, ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ (1) to ‘strongly agree’ (7). The original items are worded for describing the behavior of another organizational member, but the instructions note they can be easily modified for self-report administration.

Keywords

Organizational Citizenship Behavior, OCB, Interpersonal Helping, Individual Initiative, Personal Industry, Loyal Boosterism, Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction, Procedural Justice, Employee Performance.

Authors

R.H. Moorman, G. L. Blakely

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Organizational Citizenship Behavior scale is to systematically measure the frequency and intensity of discretionary employee behaviors that exceed standard job requirements. This measurement is crucial for understanding factors contributing to organizational effectiveness, culture, and overall performance that are often overlooked by traditional performance metrics.

Specifically, the scale aims to distinguish between four empirically separate dimensions of OCB, allowing researchers and practitioners to analyze how different forms of citizenship behavior relate to internal organizational factors, such as procedural justice, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction, as demonstrated in the original research by Moorman and Blakely (1995).

Construct

The scale measures Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), defined as voluntary behaviors that are not recognized by the formal reward system but promote the effective functioning of the organization. OCB is conceptualized across four distinct, yet related, subscales:

• Interpersonal Helping (5 items): This dimension consists of altruistic behaviors directed toward co-workers, such as responding to personal needs, assisting with job-related problems, and providing genuine courtesy.
• Personal Industry (4 items): This dimension describes adherence to rules and instructions, performing tasks with unusual attention to quality, and diligence that goes above and beyond the required duties.
• Individual Initiative (5 items): This refers to proactive employee efforts aimed at improving individual and team performance, challenging counterproductive group norms (groupthink), and encouraging participatory behavior among colleagues.
• Loyal Boosterism (5 items): This dimension captures behaviors reflecting uncritical faithfulness to the organization, defense of organizational interests, and active contributions to maintaining the organization’s good reputation and general welfare.

Validity

The validity of the OCB scale is supported by robust correlational evidence and structural analysis. The four organizational citizenship behavior subscales correlated positively with one another, suggesting they measure related facets of a common construct. Furthermore, all four subscales demonstrated significant positive correlations with key organizational attitudes, including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and procedural justice (Moorman & Blakely, 1995; Moorman et al., 1998).

Specific relationships were also established: Interpersonal Helping, Individual Initiative, and Personal Industry all correlated positively with the acceptance of collective norms and in-role behavior. Interpersonal Helping and Loyal Boosterism correlated positively with working values. Finally, Interpersonal Helping, Personal Industry, and Loyal Boosterism showed positive correlations with perceived organizational support (Moorman et al., 1998), confirming the scale’s relevance to the overall organizational climate.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the OCB scale dimensions was assessed using Coefficient alpha across several validation studies (Moorman & Blakely, 1995; Moorman, Blakely, & Niehoff, 1998; Thompson & Werner, 1997). The reliability estimates generally indicate acceptable to good internal consistency for all four subscales, demonstrating stability across different samples.

• Interpersonal Helping subscale: Alpha values ranged from .67 to .78.
• Individual Initiative subscale: Alpha values ranged from .76 to .80.
• Personal Industry subscale: Alpha values ranged from .61 to .83.
• Loyal Boosterism subscale: Alpha values ranged from .76 to .86.

Factor Analysis

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted on the 19 items to rigorously test the hypothesized four-dimensional structure (Moorman & Blakely, 1995). The results of the CFA indicated a good fit, confirming that the 19 items related to their intended four dimensions as theoretically expected.

This analysis provided crucial empirical evidence that the dimensions—Interpersonal Helping, Individual Initiative, Personal Industry, and Loyal Boosterism—are statistically and conceptually distinct constructs, reinforcing the validity of measuring these facets of Organizational Citizenship Behavior separately.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report or Peer-rating questionnaire

Format: 19 items measured on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree)

Language Available: English (Original); Translations likely exist but are not specified in the primary source.

Population Group: Employees and organizational members

Age Group: Working adults (typically 18 years and older)

Population Details: Applicable to diverse organizational settings and industries, used in studies involving white-collar and blue-collar workers.

Test Methodology: Assessment of perceptions regarding discretionary workplace behavior, administered either as a self-report instrument or as a rating scale completed by peers or supervisors.

Keywords

OCB measurement, workplace behavior, employee attitudes, organizational psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, job performance, behavioral scales, discretionary behavior.

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: 1995

Permissions: The original items were published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior. Reproduction of the items was granted by permission of John Wiley & Sons Limited, as cited in the original source publication (Moorman & Blakely, 1995).

Fee: Researchers and practitioners should consult John Wiley & Sons Limited or the authors regarding appropriate usage permissions and potential licensing fees.

Reference’s

• Moorman, R.H., & Blakely, G. L. (1995). Individualism-collectivism as an individual difference predictor of organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16, 127-142.
• Moorman, R.H., Blakely, G. L., & Niehoff, B. P. (1998). Does perceived organizational support mediate the relationship between procedural justice and organizational citizenship behavior? Academy of Management Journal, 41(3), 351-357.
• Thompson, J. A., & Werner, S. (1997). The impact of gender and organizational context on the relationship between procedural justice and organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 18, 129-141.

Items of the Organizational Citizenship Behavior scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Responses are obtained using a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree.

The items provided are worded for describing another organizational member. For self-descriptions, the items are modified to refer to the respondent.

Interpersonal helping items:

1. Goes out of his/her way to help co-workers with work-related problems.
2. Voluntarily helps new employees settle into the job.
3. Frequently adjusts his/her work schedule to accommodate other employees’ requests for time off.
4. Always goes out of the way to make newer employees feel welcome in the work group.
5. Shows genuine concern and courtesy toward co-workers, even under the most trying business or personal situation.

Individual initiative items:

6. For issues that may have serious consequences, expresses opinions honestly even when others may disagree
7. Often motivates others to express their ideas and opinions.
8. Encourages others to try new and more effective ways of doing their job.
9. Encourages hesitant or quiet co-workers to voice their opinions when they otherwise might not speak up.
10. Frequently communicates to co-workers’ suggestions on how the group can improve.

Personal industry items:

11. Rarely misses work even when he/she has a legitimate reason for doing so.
12. Performs his/her duties with unusually few errors.
13. Performs his/her job duties with extra-special care.
14. Always meets or beats deadlines for completing work.

Loyal boosterism items:

15. Defends the organization when other employees criticize it.
16. Encourages friends and family to utilize the organization’s products.
17. Defends the organization when outsiders criticize it.
18. Shows pride when representing the organization in public.
19. Actively promotes the organization’s products and services to potential users.