Reeshad S. Dalal

A meta-analysis of the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior.

Job performance is increasingly being seen to encompass constructs such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). To clarify the OCB-CWB relationship, a meta-analysis was conducted. Results indicate a modest negative relationship (p = -0.32). The relationship strength did not increase appreciably when the target of the behavior (the organization vs. other employees) was the same. Moreover, OCB and CWB exhibited somewhat distinct patterns of relationships with antecedents. The OCB-CWB relationship was moderated by the source of the ratings, the presence of antithetical items, and the type of response options. An employee-centric perspective is proposed whereby both OCB and CWB are perceived as adaptive behavior. Implications for organizations are discussed.

Who helps and harms whom? Relational antecedents of interpersonal helping and harming in organizations.

Antecedents of interpersonally directed forms of citizenship and counterproductive behaviors (i.e., interpersonal helping and harming, respectively) have been studied most often under the broad categories of individual differences and job attitudes. Although these behaviors often are exhibited within the confines of interpersonal relationships, the impact of relationship quality and context on such behaviors has been understudied. The present study uses a social networks framework to examine the relational antecedents of interpersonal helping and harming in a sample of 62 members of a college sorority house. Results indicate that relational variables--direct, third-party, and structural or positional characteristics of positive and negative affective networks, and the frequency of voluntary interaction--explain substantial incremental variance (beyond traditional predictors) in helping and harming. Moreover, helping and harming were themselves weakly positively interrelated. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Job satisfaction as mediator: An assessment of job satisfaction's position within the nomological network

Job satisfactions position within the nomological network and the mechanism outlined by theories of social exchange suggest that job satisfaction functions as a mediator of the relationship between various antecedent variables and volitional workplace behaviours. We extend social exchange theory to include perceptions of the total job situation and develop a model that positions job satisfaction as a mediator of the relationships between various internal and external antecedent variables, and three volitional workplace behaviours: citizenship behaviours, counterproductive workplace behaviours, and job withdrawal. The fit of a fully mediated model is good and all four classes of antecedents (dispositions, workplace events, job characteristics, job opportunities) contributed uniquely to the prediction of satisfaction. Job satisfaction is also shown to mediate most antecedent-consequence relationships, although two important exceptions are evident. A direct link from pro-social disposition to OCBs, and a direct link and one from anti-social disposition to counterproductivity, suggest that job satisfaction does not fully moderate the relationships between dispositions and contextual behaviours.

Affect spin and the emotion regulation process at work.

Regulating emotions is one of the most depleting activities that customer service employees are asked to do, but not all employees get burned out by the end of an emotionally laborious day. In the current study, affect spin-the trait variability of an individuals affective states-was hypothesized to increase strain and fatigue associated with emotion regulation, yet weaken the relation between recent strain and immediate fatigue. The authors examined these hypotheses in an experience sampling study of restaurant servers. Sixty-three servers completed surveys on 4 occasions during each of approximately 10 shifts (2,051 total surveys). Multilevel analyses supported the underlying model linking emotion regulation to fatigue at work as well as the hypothesized role of affect spin. Although affect spin reflects greater reactivity to affective events, it also provides some degree of a buffer from the fatiguing effects of these events.