The Influence of Spirituality and Perceived Organizational Support on Citizenship Behaviors

For decades, scholars have examined organizational citizenship behaviors nearly exclusively among individuals from the Traditionalist and Baby Boomer generations. Given the demographic shift in the 21st century workforce, it is important for researchers to examine how well existing management theories explain and predict the discretionary behaviors and motivations of younger generations. In this quantitative study, we examine 233 younger generation emerging leaders from a large metropolitan area in the Midwest. Spirituality in the workplace as an affective influence and perceived organizational support as a cognitive influence were combined in an additive fashion to determine the extent to which emerging leaders will exercise organizational citizenship behaviors. Our results indicate spirituality in the workplace and perceived organizational support have a direct and positive influence on organizational citizenship behaviors. Our study also provides empirical support for the effectiveness of spiritual principles and humanistic management practices on the exercise of citizenship behaviors among younger generation emerging leaders.