Unmasking the ‘Good Samaritan’: perceived Organizational Support and Impression Management as antecedents of organizational citizenship behavior.

Abstract

In the face of decreasing resources, having employees willing to perform organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB)--which are not required but beneficial-can be advantageous for organizations. Thus, to encourage performance of OCB among employees, it is imperative to identify what drives employees to perform these behaviors. Using Organizational Support Theory and Impression Management theory as framework, this study therefore sought to measure performance of select OCBs (helping behavior, initiative, and volunteerism) and its relationship with (a) perceived organizational support (POS), (b) support from co-workers and (c) impression management. Moreover, the researcher determined whether employees’ attribution of OCB as in-role (part of their job) or extra-role (beyond job requirement) influences their performance of it. Respondents (n=150) for the 37-item survey used in this quantitative study were randomly selected office staff workers in Parañaque City Hall. Proportional sampling of casual and regular employees was also ensured. Results indicate that employees generally tend to perform OCB especially those they identified as part of their jobs. Although POS, co-worker support and impression management were all found to be significantly related to OCB, coworker support appears to be the strongest driver of OCB among surveyed respondents. The differing results for casual and regular employees are also discussed.