May I Please Go the Extra Mile? Citizenship Communication Strategies and Their Effect on Individual Initiative OCB, Work–Family Conflict, and Partner Satisfaction

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) contributes to organizational effectiveness, but it can also create a burden for employees and their partner. In three studies, we examine how employees communicate with their partner about engaging in OCB and how this affects employees’ OCB, their work-family conflict, and their partner’s satisfaction. In Study 1, we use qualitative data to identify five ways employees communicate with their partner in order to engage in individual initiative OCB (e.g., staying late at work, volunteering for special assignments). In Study 2, using dual-concern theory, we hypothesize that self-concerned citizenship communication strategies will not only increase OCB, but also increase work-family conflict, and we predict that other-concerned communication strategies will reduce work-family conflict and increase partner satisfaction. Using survey data from employees and their partner, these hypotheses were partially supported. Finally, in Study 3, we use experimental vignette methodology to provide causal evidence that citizenship communication strategies influence partner satisfaction. Together these studies increase our understanding of how employees communicate with their partner about OCB, indicate that there is no single communication strategy that has positive implications for both OCB and home life, and suggest that employees and their partners tend to think of OCB as involuntary for achieving family goals.