The direct and indirect impacts of job characteristics on faculty organizational citizenship behavior in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Abstract

We examine the relationships between job characteristics (job autonomy, skill variety, role conflict), work-related attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, trust in the employer), and organizational citizenship behaviors (civic virtue and altruism) among faculty at UAE-based universities. Data were obtained from 249 participants at 26 universities. Path analysis revealed, as predicted, that job autonomy, skill variety, and role conflict impact faculty job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and trust. Also, when job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and trust were examined simultaneously as mediators of the job characteristics-citizenship relationship, only organizational commitment was significant. Job autonomy had both direct and indirect effects on civic virtue, but only an indirect effect on altruism. Skill variety had direct and indirect effects on both civic virtue and altruism; whereas, role conflict had only indirect effects on these outcomes. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed and directions for future research are offered.