Influence of learned optimism and organisational ethos on organisational citizenship behaviour: a study on Indian corporations

Abstract

This study attempts: to study the dynamics of organisational citizenship behaviour, learned optimism, and organisational ethos across types of organisations (service and manufacturing), hierarchical positions (executive and non-executive), and gender (male and female) of the employees; to examine the functional relationship between organisational citizenship behaviour, learned optimism and organisational ethos; and to ascertain the relative importance of learned optimism, organisational ethos and its eight dimensions in determining organisational citizenship behaviour. It follows a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design with 600 respondents. Three standardised questionnaires are used. There is a significant difference between the independent variables, i.e., types of organisations, hierarchical positions and gender of the employees, on organisational citizenship behaviour, organisational ethos and learned optimism. Further, the result shows that learned optimism, confrontation and pro-action influence organisational citizenship behaviour significantly. Based on the findings, organisational development and behavioural development interventions are suggested to increase the performance in the organisation.