Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Public and Private Sectors: A Multilevel Test of Public Service Motivation and Traditional Antecedents

Alex Ingrams

doi:10.1177/0734371x18800372

Abstract

Scholarly knowledge of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has developed significantly in the private and public sectors. However, comparisons between sectors have not been advanced. This article aims to address the gap with hierarchical linear modeling of OCB antecedents across sectors, accounting for individual- and sector-level differences. The results show a significant association between public service motivation (PSM) and OCB, as well as several other central correlates of OCB in the public sector: goal clarity, job satisfaction, and leader–member exchange (LMX). In addition, although there are marginally higher levels of OCB in the public sector, the interaction effect of sector and PSM is not significant. This finding suggests the effect of PSM on OCB is important across sectors rather than solely being a function of public sector employment.

Highlights

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) refers to “behavior(s) of a discretionary nature that are not part of the employee’s formal role requirements, but Public sector research on OCB is still far behind the private sector, but scholars have observed high levels of OCB in public organizations (Christensen & Whiting, 2009; Kim, 2006)
This article examined two research questions to tackle the gap in scholarly understanding of sector differences in OCB
The major contribution is that this study is the first to address the specific hypotheses of the relationship between industry sector and OCB, and to do so using multilevel modeling involving a range of traditional antecedents

Summary

Introduction

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) refers to “behavior(s) of a discretionary nature that are not part of the employee’s formal role requirements, but Public sector research on OCB is still far behind the private sector, but scholars have observed high levels of OCB in public organizations (Christensen & Whiting, 2009; Kim, 2006). A further finding in public sector research is that OCB has strong organizational synergies with public service motivation (PSM); OCB complements PSM The former involves innovation and informal behavior, whereas the latter is more formally directed to public organizations and can motivate many areas of work beyond innovation (Vigoda-Gadot & Beeri, 2012). The results of the studies beg two key puzzles: first, whether there are different levels of OCB between sectors, and, second, whether there is a role for PSM in understanding this possible difference. Knowledge of such public–private differences provides a means for making better, sector-specific, managerial and behavioral interventions (Baarspul & Wilderom, 2011). As research on OCB in public organizations develops, it will be necessary to establish stronger empirical foundations of public sector distinctiveness with conceptual sharpness and clarity

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Conclusion