Trait conscientiousness, leader-member exchange, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviour: A test of an integrative model

Competing theoretical models were tested, linking organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) to trait conscientiousness, job satisfaction and leader-member-exchange (LMX) quality. Meta-analytic structural equation modelling results provide strongest support for a model wherein more conscientious employees display more OCB, which enhances LMX quality, leading to greater job satisfaction. In-turn, employees reciprocate their higher job satisfaction by demonstrating more OCB. Beyond supporting the view that OCB represents employee reciprocation for the satisfying job experiences typically stemming from higher-quality LMX, our findings help to legitimize the notion that OCB may be used, particularly by more conscientious employees, as a means of nurturing higher-quality LMX and to gain access to more satisfying job experiences.