Promoting Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB): Unintended Gender Disparities in the Participation and Evaluation of Different Types of OCB

ABSTRACT Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), which involves employees voluntarily going “above and beyond” their defined job responsibilities, is important for organizational success. We examine unintended consequences of using a management control system to promote and reward OCBs. Specifically, because OCB transcends preestablished core job performance criteria, valuation of OCB necessarily relies on subjective judgments, allowing gender stereotypes to manifest. Using proprietary data from a financial services firm, we examine two types of OCBs: agentic and communal OCBs. Consistent with gender stereotypes, women are less likely to participate in agentic OCB and more likely to participate in communal OCB. Consistent with “shifting standards” theory, we find that men obtain a significant evaluation premium for communal OCB, whereas women obtain a marginal evaluation premium for agentic OCB. Our findings build upon research showing career benefits of OCB, on average, to show gender differences in the value organizations place on different types of OCB. Data Availability: This study uses proprietary data from an organization. JEL Classifications: M10; M12; M40; M41; M50; M52.