Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2009):

Good soldiers and good actors: prosocial and impression management motives as interactive predictors of affiliative citizenship behaviors.

Full Abstract

Researchers have discovered inconsistent relationships between prosocial motives and citizenship behaviors. We draw on impression management theory to propose that impression management motives strengthen the association between prosocial motives and affiliative citizenship by encouraging employees to express citizenship in ways that both "do good" and "look good." We report 2 studies that examine the interactions of prosocial and impression management motives as predictors of affiliative citizenship using multisource data from 2 different field samples. Across the 2 studies, we find positive interactions between prosocial and impression management motives as predictors of affiliative citizenship behaviors directed toward other people (helping and courtesy) and the organization (initiative). Study 2 also shows that only prosocial motives predict voice-a challenging citizenship behavior. Our results suggest that employees who are both good soldiers and good actors are most likely to emerge as good citizens in promoting the status quo.

Author information

Author/s: Grant, Adam M (AM); Mayer, David M (DM);

Affiliation: Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3490, USA. agrant(-atsign-)unc.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: The Journal of applied psychology (J Appl Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jul; vol 94 (issue 4) : pp 900-12

Dates: Created 2009/07/14; Completed 2009/08/14;

PMID: 19594233, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 8/21/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Aspirations (Psychology) Cooperative Behavior Employee Performance Appraisal Female Humans Interpersonal Relations Leadership Male Middle Aged

Middle Aged Motivation Organizational Innovation Organizational Objectives Personnel Management Problem Solving Social Identification Social Responsibility Social Values Young Adult

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