A Consideration on the Causal Relationship between Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Organizational Retaliatory Behavior

Abstract

Organizational Retaliatory Behavior (ORB) refers to the modest tit-for-tat behavior of employees dissatisf ied with an organization and is in contraposition to Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). Although factors influencing OCB have an oppositional impact on ORB, OCB and ORB also have a direct relationship. This study empirically examined how job satisfaction and organizational commitment influence the OCB-ORB relationship by utilizing the data collected from 312 Japanese employees. The specification search of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that the model which assumes a sequential causal relationship from antecedents to OCB to ORB is the best in terms of measures of fit. Some theoretical and practical implications are also proposed.