Does Mood Influence Organizational Citizenship Behaviour Intentions? An Experimental Manipulation of Affective State

An experimental study involving 114 employees from a variety of American industries, organizations, and positions which randomly manipulated affective state (positive, negative, and neutral mood) found that when mood became more positive, the likelihood that organizational citizenship behaviors would occur increased. After controlling for established patterns of organizational citizenship behaviors, demographic characteristics, and dispositional differences, manipulated mood was found to be marginally related to the intention of performing specific organizationally beneficial activities. Implications for the findings within the Asian context are also discussed. Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) are those employee actions that are “discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promote the effective functioning of the organization ” (Organ, 1988: 4). Constructive behaviors such as helping coworkers with their work, assisting others in learning new tasks, orienting new organizational members, and volunteering to perform beneficial tasks are deemed by OCB researchers as essential to successful organizational operation (Organ, 1988, 1990). While it is clear that behaviors like enduring job-related inconveniences without complaint, treating others with courtes