A Review of Research on Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Abstract

As a significant research object in the realm of organizational behavior, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has received extensive attention from researchers since it was proposed. Through a comprehensive analysis of a large number of English and Chinese literature, this article sorts out five important theoretical basis, including individual positive affect, social exchange theory, psychological contract, covenant relationships and equity theory. It also clarifies the concept and development of OCB and provide an overview of the current research in this field. Job satisfaction, perceived fairness, perceived supervisor support, and leadership styles have all been found to have significant effects on OCB. In academic circles, there are three main views about the association between OCB and organizational performance, showing that their relationship is still not clear enough. It turns out that positive effects are still the mainstream, while more and more scholars are studying on negative effects. Overall, this review article provides a comprehensive theoretical and practical reference for studying OCB and offers insights and guidance for the future development trend.