The power of example: The relationship between supervisors’ and employees’ organizational citizenship behavior

This study applied social learning theory to investigate the relationship between supervisors’ and employees’ organizational citizenship behavior, as well as the moderating role of leader–member exchange (LMX). Through convenience sampling we selected 239 employees from different organizations in China to complete the study in two stages separated by a 1-month interval. Hierarchical regression analysis results indicated that employee OCB was positively influenced by supervisor OCB and that LMX positively moderated this relationship. Hence, organizations should account for the effect of supervisors’ OCB, cultivate supervisors’ awareness of and ability to conduct OCB, select supervisors with a high OCB tendency, endow them with job autonomy, and encourage them to build high-quality exchange relationships with employees.