Workplace Envy and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: The Mediating Effect of Cynicism and the Moderating Effect of Organizational Support

ABSTRACT Employees frequently engage in social comparisons in work environments, which can give rise to envy, a painful emotional response to perceived inferiority. Although previous envy research has mainly focused on its consequences within dyadic domains, the present study examines its broader organizational implications by investigating how envy influences organizational citizenship behaviour. Drawing on conservation of resource theory, this study investigated the mediating role of cynicism as emotion‐focused coping mechanism as well as the moderating role of perceived organizational support in this relationship. Data were collected from 221 full‐time employees across 3 time‐lagged intervals. According to the results, envy was found to positively relate to cynicism, which in turn negatively associated with citizenship behaviour. Perceived organizational support was found to moderate the relationship between envy and cynicism, mitigating the indirect effect of envy on organizational citizenship behaviour. This study extends envy research by highlighting cynicism as an emotion‐focused coping mechanism that affects organizational outcomes and identifies organizational support as a key resource in mitigating envy's negative effects. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.