From inspiration to justification: the paradoxical impact of coworker citizenship behavior

While coworker organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is known to inspire positive behavior, its potential to justify negative actions remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by examining the impact of coworker OCB on differential focal employee behaviors via vicarious learning and vicarious moral licensing theory. The paper also explores the moderating effects of situational factors, including role overload and individual characteristics such as narcissism and moral identity, on the relationship between coworker OCB and focal employee behaviors. Sample data were collected online from 232 U.S. full-time employees via a two-wave survey. The results showed empirical evidence to our hypotheses. For example, results showed that coworker OCB was positively associated with focal employee moral credit (β = .79, p < .001), which in turn was related to CWB. Furthermore, coworker OCB was positively related to focal OCB via vicarious learning (indirect effect = .24). The study contributes to the literature on vicarious moral licensing and vicarious learning. It offers theoretical and empirical implications for understanding OCB and its effects on individual behavior.