Visual Images of People at Work: Influences on Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Abstract

Although organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is widely known to have a positive ethical impact in work organizations, the causal antecedents that influence the likelihood of such behaviors among employees is understudied. We addressed this gap by examining the influence of visual images of people on relevant work-related behavior in a work-like setting using the theoretical frame of the social identity perspective. We found that students in a university setting, who were exposed to religious-themed student images, exhibited slower helping behaviors toward the organization than those who were exposed to organizational-themed student images. The results of the current study provide the first-known experimental confirmation of organizational identity as a causal antecedent of OCB.

Citation

Randolph-Seng, B., Smith, B.A. and Slobodnikova, A. (2018), "Visual Images of People at Work: Influences on Organizational Citizenship Behavior", Schwartz, M., Harris, H. and Comer, D.R. (Ed.) Visual Ethics (Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations, Vol. 19), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 7-25. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-209620180000019002