Abstract
This study examines the question: Why would an employee engage in work that enhances organizational performance but is not necessarily recognized or rewarded by his or her employer? This study suggests that this question can be answered in part by the degree to which an employee endorses the Protestant work ethic (PWE). The relationship between the PWE and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) is analyzed using two separate survey data samples. Findings support a positive and significant relationship between OCB and two dimensions of the PWE, hard work and independence.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
REFERENCES
Barnard, C.I. (1938). The functions of the executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bies, R.J., Martin, C.L. & Brockner, J. (1993). Just laid off, but still a “good citizen?” Only if the process is fair. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 6, 227–238.
Blau, G., & Ryan, J. (1997). On measuring work ethic: A neglected work commitment facet. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 51, 435–448.
Blood, M. (1969). Work values and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 53, 456–459.
Buchholz, R. (1978). An empirical study of contemporary beliefs about work in American society. Journal of Applied Psychology, 63, 219–227.
Cherrington, D. (1980). The work ethic: Working values and values that work. New York: AMACOM.
Crowne, D. & Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive: Studies of evaluative dependence. New York: Wiley.
Farh, J., Podsakoff, P.M., & Organ, D.W. (1990). Accounting for organizational citizenship behavior: Leader fairness and task scope versus satisfaction. Journal of Management, 16, 705–722.
Furnham, A. (1987). Work related beliefs and human values. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 627–637.
Furnham, A. (1990). The Protestant work ethic. New York: Routledge.
Furnham, A., & Quilley, R. (1989). The Protestant work ethic and the prisoner's dilemma game. British Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 79–87.
George, J.M. (1991). State or trait: Effects of positive mood on prosocial behaviors at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 299–307.
Goldstein, B., & Eichhorn, R. (1961). The changing Protestant ethic: Rural patterns in health, work and leisure. American Sociological Review, 26, 557–565.
Greenberg, J. (1977). The Protestant work ethic and reactions to negative performance evaluations on a laboratory task. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62, 682–690.
Greenberg, J. (1993). Justice and organizational citizenship: A commentary on the state of the science. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 6, 249–256.
Hammon, P., & Williams, K. (1976). Protestant ethic thesis: Social psychological assessment. Social Forces, 54, 579–589.
Ho, R. (1984). Development of an Australian work ethic. Australian Psychologist, 19, 321–332.
Konovsky, M.A., & Organ, D.W. (1996). Dispositional and contextual determinants of organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17, 253–266.
Konovsky, M.A., & Pugh, S.D. (1994). Citizenship behavior and social exchange. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 656–669.
Maccoby, M., & Terzi, R. (1979). What happened to the work ehtic? In W. Hoffman and T. Wyly (Eds.), The work ethic in business. Cambridge, MA: O, G & H Publishers.
McClelland, D. (1961). The Achieving Society. New York: Free Press.
McClelland, D., Atkinson, J., Clark, R., & Lowell, E. (1953). The Achievement Motive. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
McCrae, R.R., & Costa, P.T. Jr. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 81–90.
Merrens, M.R., & Garrett, J.B. (1975). The Protestant ethic scale as a predictor of repetitive work performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 125–127. 132 JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND PSYCHOLOGY
Mirels, H., & Garrett, J. (1971). Protestant ethic as a personality variable. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 36, 40–44.
Moorman, R.H. (1991). Relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviors: Do fairness perceptions influence employee citizenship? Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 845–855.
Moorman, R.H. (1993). The influence of cognitive and affective based job satisfaction measures on the relationship between satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior. Human Relations, 46, 759–776.
Moorman, R.H., & Blakely, G.I. (1995). Individualism-collectivism as an individual difference predictor of organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16, 127–142.
Moorman, R.H., Niehoff, B.P., & Organ, D.W. (1993). Treating employees fairly and organizational citizenship behavior: Sorting the effects of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and procedural justice. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 6, 209–225.
Oates, W. (1971). Confessions of a workaholic: The facts about work addiction. New York: World Publishing.
Organ, D.W. (1988). Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Lexington, MA: Lexington.
Organ, D.W. (1994). Personality and organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Management, 20, 465–478.
Organ, D.W., & Konovsky, M.A. (1989). Cognitive versus determinants of organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 157–164.
Organ, D.W., & Ryan, K. (1995). A meta-analytic review of attitudinal and dispositional predictors of organizational citizenship behavior. Personnel Psychology, 48, 775–802.
Podsakoff, P.M. & MacKenzie, S.B. (1993). Citizenship behavior and fairness in organizations: Issues and directions for future research. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 6, 257–269.
Ray, J.J. (1982). The Protestant ethic in Australia. Journal of Social Psychology, 116, 127–138.
Rokeach, M. (1973). The nature of human values. New York: Free Press.
Rothlisberger, F.J., & Dickson, W.J. (1939). Management and the worker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. New York: Wiley Science Editions, 1964.
Schnake, M. (1991). Organizational citizenship: A review, proposed model, and research agenda. Human Relations, 7, 735–759.
Smith, C.A., Organ, D.W., & Near, J.P. (1983). Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature and antecedents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 653–663.
Tansky, J.W. (1993). Justice and organizational citizenship behavior: What is the relationship? Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 6, 195–207.
Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. (Translated by T. Parsons). New York: Scribner. (Originally published 1904–1905.)
Williams, R. (1970). Sociology. New York: McGraw Hill.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ryan, J.J. Work Values and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: Values That Work for Employees and Organizations. Journal of Business and Psychology 17, 123–132 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016246103190
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016246103190
- protestant work ethic
- organizational citizenship behavior
- organizational justice