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Who Is a Good Organizational Citizen? Social Perception of Male and Female Employees Who Use Family Leave

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Abstract

In this study, we examined perceptions of the citizenship behaviors of male and female employees who took leave to care for a newborn, a sick child, a sick parent, or who did not take leave. In a 2 (employee gender) × 4 (reason for leave) × 2 (participant gender) experimental design, 242 undergraduate students read a mock personnel file and rated the employee on altruism and generalized compliance. Female employees were not rated differently whether they took leave or not. Male employees who took leave for birth or eldercare were rated less likely to be altruistic at work than their male counterparts who did not take leave and their female counterparts who took leave. There was also a bias against male leave takers for generalized compliance ratings, especially by male evaluators. Future research ideas and implications for organizational practice are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

    Julie Holliday Wayne

  2. Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania

    Bryanne L. Cordeiro

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  1. Julie Holliday Wayne
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  2. Bryanne L. Cordeiro
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Correspondence to Julie Holliday Wayne.

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Wayne, J.H., Cordeiro, B.L. Who Is a Good Organizational Citizen? Social Perception of Male and Female Employees Who Use Family Leave. Sex Roles 49, 233–246 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024600323316

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