Organizational citizenship behaviors and employee depressed mood, burnout, and satisfaction with health and life: The mediating role of positive affect

Abstract

Purpose

Using mood regulation theories and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, the purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that the relationship between organizational citizenship behaviors aimed at individuals (OCB-Is) and depressed mood, burnout, and satisfaction with life and health would be mediated by positive affect.

Design/methodology/approach

Lagged data were collected from employee-supervisor dyads.

Findings

OCB-Is were related to positive affect, and positive affect was positively related to subsequent reports of life satisfaction and general health satisfaction, and negatively related to burnout and depressed mood. Positive affect mediated the relationship between OCB-Is and life satisfaction, general health satisfaction, and depressed mood but not burnout. An alternative reverse causality mediation model ruled out the possibility that OCB-Is mediated the relationship between positive affect and the employee outcomes.

Originality/value

These findings lend support for OCBs being an antecedent of mood, rather than vice versa.

Citation

Baranik, L.E. and Eby, L. (2016), "Organizational citizenship behaviors and employee depressed mood, burnout, and satisfaction with health and life: The mediating role of positive affect", Personnel Review, Vol. 45 No. 4, pp. 626-642. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-03-2014-0066