Helpful today, but not tomorrow? Feeling grateful as a predictor of daily organizational citizenship behaviors

Jeffrey R. Spence; Douglas J. Brown; Lisa M. Keeping; Huiwen Lian

doi:10.1111/peps.12051

Helpful today, but not tomorrow? Feeling grateful as a predictor of daily organizational citizenship behaviors

Jeffrey R. Spence, Douglas J. Brown, Lisa M. Keeping, Huiwen Lian

Management

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

139 Scopus citations

Abstract

This research extends the existing theoretical understanding of what predicts organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Using experience sampling techniques, we examine the within-person relation between OCB and a novel, theoretically relevant predictor: state gratitude. Using 4 independent samples with a total of 210 working adults and 173 undergraduate students, we developed a reliable and valid measure of state gratitude. Drawing upon the moral affect model of gratitude and affective events theory, we conducted 2 experience sampling studies with data collected from 67 (Study 2) and 104 (Study 3) working adults to test the effects of state gratitude on OCB, beyond the effects of several relevant constructs (i.e., state positive affect, dispositional gratitude, and social exchange). Our results advance OCB research and explanations of OCB by modeling OCB as a dynamic, time-variant construct and by demonstrating that feelings of gratitude, a discrete positive emotion, can be an effective predictor of OCB.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	705-738
Number of pages	34
Journal	Personnel Psychology
Volume	67
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12051
State	Published - 2014

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Applied Psychology
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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10.1111/peps.12051

Cite this

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title = "Helpful today, but not tomorrow? Feeling grateful as a predictor of daily organizational citizenship behaviors",

abstract = "This research extends the existing theoretical understanding of what predicts organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Using experience sampling techniques, we examine the within-person relation between OCB and a novel, theoretically relevant predictor: state gratitude. Using 4 independent samples with a total of 210 working adults and 173 undergraduate students, we developed a reliable and valid measure of state gratitude. Drawing upon the moral affect model of gratitude and affective events theory, we conducted 2 experience sampling studies with data collected from 67 (Study 2) and 104 (Study 3) working adults to test the effects of state gratitude on OCB, beyond the effects of several relevant constructs (i.e., state positive affect, dispositional gratitude, and social exchange). Our results advance OCB research and explanations of OCB by modeling OCB as a dynamic, time-variant construct and by demonstrating that feelings of gratitude, a discrete positive emotion, can be an effective predictor of OCB.",

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AU - Keeping, Lisa M.

AU - Lian, Huiwen

PY - 2014

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Helpful today, but not tomorrow? Feeling grateful as a predictor of daily organizational citizenship behaviors

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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