From servant leadership to organizational citizenship behavior: A theoretically grounded moderated mediation framework for Chinese private enterprises

This study aims to enhance the understanding of how servant leadership (SL) influences organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the specific context of Chinese private enterprises. Applying social exchange theory, social identity theory, and psychological contract theory, this study examines not only the mediating roles of relational identification and perceived organizational support (POS) but also how workplace loneliness negatively moderates the sequential mediating effect of SL on OCB. The analyzed survey included 335 employees from private enterprises in Zhejiang Province, China. Partial least squares structural equation modeling results show that relational identification and POS sequentially mediate the relationship between SL and OCB. Moreover, workplace loneliness significantly moderated these relationships. By presenting a framework that captures sequence mediation and includes a moderator, this study not only contributes methodologically to its field of study but also extends the literature by providing critical theoretical and practical insights for leadership and organizational behavior studies.