Impetus for Action: A Cultural Analysis of Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Chinese Society

• Published in: Administrative science quarterly Vol. 42; no. 3; pp. 421 - 444
• Main Authors: Farh, Jiing-Lih, Earley, P. Christopher, Lin, Shu-Chi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca, N.Y Cornell University Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management 01.09.1997; Sage Publications, Inc; Cornell University, Graduate School of Business and Public Administration; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Administrative science; Altruism; Behavior; Behaviour; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Business structures; China; China, People's Republic of; Chinese; Chinese culture; Citizen Participation; Citizens; Citizenship; Civilization; Conscientiousness; Cultural values; Culture; Distributive justice; Employee attitudes; Employees; Gender identity; Gender roles; Group behavior; Justice; Labor sector; Measurement; Men; Modernity; Norms; Organization; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Culture; Organizational justice; Personnel management; Procedural justice; Psychology, Industrial; Relationship; Sex Differences; Social aspects; Social change; Social Justice; Social life and customs; Social structure; Social values; Society; Studies; Taiwan; Tradition; Traditionalism; China
• ISSN: 0001-8392; 1930-3815
• DOI: 10.2307/2393733

To understand variations in citizenship behavior within a culture, we examine the relationship between citizenship behaviors and organizational justice in two studies in a Chinese context, using two cultural characteristics (traditionality and modernity) and one individual (gender) characteristic. In Study 1, we develop an indigenous measure of organizational citizenship behavior and explore the similarities and differences of this measure with its Western counterpart. In Study 2, we use this citizenship behavior measure to test its relationship to justice. Results demonstrate that organizational justice (distributive and procedural) is most strongly related to citizenship behavior for individuals who endorse less traditional, or high modernity, values. In addition, we found the relationship between justice and citizenship behavior to be stronger for men than for women. The studies are discussed in terms of the generality of citizenship behavior and its relation to organizational justice and cultural characteristics.