The effect of organizational citizenship behavior on counterproductive work behavior: A moderated mediation model

Abstract

This research examines the path of the employees’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCBO) enactment to their Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWBO) acts through moral credentials and moral credits as conceptualized by the moral licensing theory under the moderating role of collective identity orientation (CIO). Data were collected from 336 Saudi employees and then were analyzed following the moderated mediation research design proposed by Hayes’ PROCESS macro models through SPSS and AMOS software. The results revealed that moral credits and moral credentials mediate the significant negative relationship between OCBO and CWBO. Still, it was found that only moral credentials caused a significant negative indirect impact on their relationship. In addition, CIO was a significant moderator between OCBO and both moral credentials and moral credits. The present research findings contribute to the literature by expanding the understating of how enactment of ethical and productive pro-organizational behaviors could activate the employees’ psychological and moral justification for performing unethical counterproductive behaviors in the workplace context. The study formulates advice for HR practitioners and managers and discusses implications for future research and theory.