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Organizational-Citizenship Behavior

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

  • 393 Accesses

Synonyms

Contextual performance; Extra-role behavior

Definition

A category of employee behaviors, such as helping coworkers, which support the effective functioning of an organization, but are not explicitly required as part of an employee’s job, and which may or may not be rewarded by the organization.

Key Information

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is defined as “individual behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization” (Organ 1988: 4). Employees who engage in OCB are said to be good soldiersbecause they go beyond typical task requirements to help the organization run more smoothly. Examples of OCBs include helping others who have been absent, volunteering for tasks that are not required, and speaking up about problems or making suggestions in order to better the organization. Employees can engage in behaviors which benefit the organization...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Management and International Business, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    Heather J. Anderson MA

Authors
  1. Heather J. Anderson MA
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heather J. Anderson MA .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Julie Schermer

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Anderson, H.J. (2017). Organizational-Citizenship Behavior. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_788-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_788-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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