Exploring Organisational Citizenship Behaviour through the Lens of Age

Abstract

This paper sheds light on the mechanisms through which age diversity climate affects employees’ positive attitudes and behaviours. Specifically, the study examines: a) the mediating role of affective commitment in the relationship between age diversity climate and organisational citizenship behaviour, and b) the moderating effect of employees’ focus on future occupational opportunities on the link between age diversity climate and affective commitment. Applying regression analyses to a sample of 326 employees from a multinational pharmaceutical company, we found that affective commitment fully mediates the relationship between perceived age diversity climate and organisational citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, the results revealed that employees’ focus on opportunities is negatively correlated with their chronological age and positively correlated with affective commitment. However, contrary to our hypothesis, employees’ focus on opportunities did not moderate the link between age diversity climate and affective commitment. The results have implications for both theory and practice, suggesting that endeavours to maintain and sustain an inclusive age diversity climate should be regarded as critical.