Beyond the 2-Dimension Approach of Individualism–Collectivism: The 4-Dimension Approach of Individualism–Collectivism on Organizational Citizenship Behaviour

Abstract

Capturing the effectiveness of organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), authors have adopted the 2-dimension approach of individualism/collectivism to predict OCB in their studies on the OCB-individualism/collectivism relationship. However, given that employees undertake OCB toward different recipients in the workplace, a more refined approach of individualism/collectivism is required to predict OCB. To meet such a demand, the current study aimed to propose the 4-dimension approach of individualism/collectivism beyond the traditional 2-dimension approach of individualism/collectivism. The current study collected the data through an online survey and analysed the data using regression. The analysis revealed that vertical individualism is related to OCB toward the organization and the supervisor but not towards coworkers, while horizontal individualism is not related to OCB toward any of those recipients. Also, the current study found that horizontal collectivism is related to OCB toward the organization, the supervisor, coworkers, but vertical collectivism is not related to OCB toward any of those recipients. To predict the different effects of each dimension of individualism/collectivism on OCB, the current study proposed the theory-based nomological network for individualism/collectivisms-OCB relationship by incorporating cultural values with other theories including identity orientation, motives for OCB and the multifoci approach of OCB.