Public service motivation and organizational citizenship behavior in Korea

Purpose - The main theme is to investigate whether the distinct classes of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) such as altruism and generalized compliance are shown in the Korean context, and whether public service motivation, job satisfaction and organizational commitment are predictors of OCB in Korean civil servants. Design/methodology/approach - Structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to survey data of 1,584 civil servants in Korea to examine the relationships between the three predictors and the two dimensions of OCB. Findings - The results indicate the presence of the two dimensions of OCB in the Korean context, and support the relationships between public service motivation and OCB and the relationship between organizational commitment and OCB. However, the direct relationship between job satisfaction and OCB is not confirmed. Originality/value - This paper is the first to analyze the effect of public service motivation on OCB, and shows that public service motivation emerges as a more significant predictor of OCB in the public sector of Korea. It contributes to enhancing the applicability and meaningfulness of the concept of OCB across different cultures.